Markings: Punishment
by LoorTheDarkElf
Summary: Loor and Fury have a place to call home, but such places are not always kind. As home proves to hold nothing but sour memories, a new plan of action is needed. Loor aims to have it include Orochimaru's severed head.
1. Return

**BOYEAH!**

That's right, book three is here. Quick note here for new readers.

**This is the third book in an OC series. That means if you don't go back to the beginning and start reading there, you will be very lost very fast. Book one his Markings, book two is Markings-Middle Ground. Go read them. They are good! **

Now then, with that out of the way,

**On**

**With**

**The**

**Fic!**

**OWTF!!!**

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter One- Return**

"Who is that?"

"Haven't you seen her before? She's such a freak."

"Yeah, didn't you hear? Those murders seven months ago; she's the surviver."

"How come she hasn't been at school?"

"People say her and this other girl who was there went to the hospital after because of shock and stuff. No one really knows."

"Why doesn't someone ask?"

"Are you completely new? Look at her! She's so scary! I hear that one kid tried to bud in front of her in the lunch line, and all she did was stare at them, and they fainted!"

"_Oh, _my God. You're kidding, right?"

"No, she isn't. I saw it with my own eyes. Kid didn't come back to school for three days."

"What about the other girl?"

"She's all quiet. I mean, she was weird enough. Check the hair. Grandma! Someone should tell her to get a clue about putting silver streaks in her hair. But since she's come back to school, she just stares off or writes in this notebook she carries around all the time."

"I heard she was a witch."

"Everyone has heard that rumor."

"But I saw her this one time in gym class... this kid tripped and fell down in front of her, and she jumped right over him while he was getting back up. He was almost to his feet, and she went right over him! Like flying! Freaky or what?"

"The other girl is just as freaky..."

"_More _freaky. Way more."

"Oh God, she's coming this way!"

"...freak..."

"Weirdo..."

"Go back to the psych ward!"

Loor had heard one too many of these conversations, and she'd only been back at school for a week.

* * *

It was mid February when Loor and Fury had returned home, and those who had brought them to Konoha in the first place had been right after them to help them re-enter their own lives. Kurenai had made clones of the two girls when they had left, six months ago, but the clones appeared comatose. According to the rest of the world, Loor and Fury had been in the hospital for the last six months.

That's not where they had been. Far from it.

Getting into the hospital and replacing the clones with the real girls was a sneaky business, but thankfully that's what ninjas were good at. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma were there to help the girls best they could, but Loor took the head of the operation.

The first issue was that they had landed at her house, and the hospital was in town. On top of that it _was_ mid February, in Minnesota, and it had every bit of snow that was expected at such a time of year. No one was dressed for it. Still, they were near Loor's house.

Well, it used to be her house.

Quickly running through the snow, Loor led the group while trying not to pay attention to how everything was as she knew it. The yard looked the same. From outside, the house looked the same as it had looked during any other winter it had weathered through.

Still, some changes existed. She didn't go up the deck stairs on the back of the house, going for the lower level door... which was locked. Her family never locked the doors. Still, she knew that after six months the police had probably turned the place into a crime scene for the murders and then it would have gone back to the bank when they didn't find the killer.

Loor only held the hope that no one lived at the house yet. She changed her path, going around the corner of the house to head for the east side. The east side was where her bedroom window was, on ground level. It was how she escaped in the middle of the night when she wanted to go on a midnight walk. No one questioned her as they got there, and she looked back when she arrived at the window.

"Anyone got a knife?"

Kakashi was the first to hand one up, everyone shivering by now. It was _cold. _Loor took it. It was a kunai knife, which meant the blade was wider at the middle. She could only hope the tip was thin enough to do what she needed to do.

"L-L-Loor..." Fury was rubbing herself to stay warm. She had been wearing one of Kiba's older coats, a parting gift, when she left, but she only had a T under it. The wind that was blowing snow around was going right through her. "What are you d-d-d-doing?"

"These windows run on a crank." She answered, taking the weather better. She spent plenty of time in the snow. "That means they have a runner. I removed the runner from this one so I could open it from the outside. If they didn't fix it..." She had wedged the blade into the seam between the window and the outside of the house, pushing it up.

The window popped out, opening their way inside. "It should come right open. Everyone in. The heat will be on to keep the pipes from freezing."

No one argued, entering quickly. Loor followed, pulling her window shut and re-hooking the runner to crank it tightly shut. No one would ever know they'd come in that way. It was still cold, but the wind was gone. They'd plan their next move here.

She turned around, and just about fell on her butt.

Her room was bare.

There used to be a desk, and a bed, and her computer, and her stereo, and art plastered across the walls from time misspent in class. There used to be a dresser, and clothes strewn about the floor, and her backpack hiding in the corner.

Instead... there was nothing. The room was empty.

"This was my room..." Loor muttered, absently. "This... this was..."

Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder. "Keep with us, Loor. What do we do now? You and Fury need to get to the copies Kurenai made and replace them with minimal notice."

"What if we do get noticed...?" Loor muttered.

Kurenai stood next to Kakashi. "Some people in the ABUN Black ops. learn how to erase memories. If Kakashi has to, he will."

"Right..." Loor nodded slowly, shaking her head. She walked away from the others, opening the door to leave the room. This was her house... but it wasn't anymore. When she went out of her room she was confronted with an empty house. Everything that had ever made it hers, or her family's, was gone. Everything was clean and empty. Even the main floor, where her parents had been killed.

This meant Loor wasn't going to find what she was looking for. She was hoping some of the possessions would be left. The electrical was the only thing left in this house. She was looking for winter wear.

Through her search of the house, the others followed her dutifully. They were silent, letting Loor think.

"This isn't going to be a cake walk." She said after a long while, standing where she had seen her parents slaughtered. "But... we can do it."

What happened was this.

Each member of the group used transformation. Loor and Fury could not look like themselves for obvious reasons, and the three sensei with them just didn't look like they belonged in the area. After a quick change up in everyone's looks, Loor led the way back out of the house. She used the front door. She didn't care if the authorities knew if the house was broken into. She didn't care much about anything.

After they'd gotten back outside, Loor led the way to one of the neighboring houses. She had taken on the form of a teenage red head, as did Fury, the two looking like they could be related. Loor had described what an inconspicuous male looked like to Asuma and Kakashi, and they did their best to conform to it. Kurenai was the key player though. Her transformation was what was going to score them a ride.

She looked like a pregnant woman. Extremely pregnant.

It was easy to persuade the next door neighbor to give them a ride to the hospital with minimal questions about where they'd come from.

Loor was looking out the windows the whole time. Nothing had changed, but everything had changed. Same snow, same roads, same people, same small town of Kingston Minnesota, but she saw things in a different light now. These people all lived simply with simple lives. None of them knew what they were capable of... not like she and Fury had learned.

All these people... so many could have gained power like she and her sister had. So many could have trained to a new potential. None of them knew how much the human body could do...

None of them knew what she and her sister knew.

After arrival at the hospital, Loor took the lead again. At the front registration desk of the hospital she asked where she could find Loor Randolph and Fury Paulson. The rooms were separate, on the third floor, and thankfully they'd made visiting hours.

What Loor hadn't expected was that their copies were in ICU. She cursed herself for not thinking of such. If they appeared comatose, of course they'd be in intensive care.

While taking the stairs instead of the elevator, Loor stopped on the second floor landing. "We have a problem."

"What?" Asuma was the first to question.

"It's ICU." Loor answered. "No cameras as far as I know... but its only two or three people at once. They don't like people crowding the rooms. Aside from that, those clones are sure to have monitoring systems on them, maybe even breathings masks. How do we fool the machines?"

"Maybe we don't need to." Kakashi mused. "Can we just make it look like you fell off of the bed in the process of coming out of your 'comatose' state? That would disconnect most of the machines without too much effort."

"At the same time?" Loor questioned. "They'll smell something. Doctors see a lot of mysteries, but I don't want to give them reason to check the tapes and see that five people entered here and only three left."

"Wait, we have separate rooms." Fury pitched in. "We can split this into two teams. Loor, you and Kakashi go for yours, and us three will go for mine. We'll put it a few hours apart, and hopefully no one will get curious."

"Alright..." Loor nodded slightly. "And... who goes first?"

"We will." Kurenai volunteered. "Kakashi, you can handle yourself, right?"

"Right." He nodded. "Actually... I can do this one better. Fury can pull the falling act. It'll probably take everyone's attention. During that, Loor can switch in for her clone. Hopefully no one will notice. It will be at the same time, but it won't be the same scenario."

Everyone looked at each other.

That was the plan.

And with the right sprinkling of luck... it had worked. Some suspicion was roused, but not much, and the visitors were gone long before the questions started. Fury and Loor had taken the hospital clothes of their clones, hiding their own clothes in the hospital rooms.

All hell had broken loose though. The girls went through more tests and questions than they ever wanted to go through again, ever. The doctors were more than amazed with the two girls, and their sudden recovery, but there was no fighting the fact that they were awake and strong.

A medical mystery... and that was all they were going to make of it. They took blood samples and made their tests, but they couldn't come up with any reason for the girls' good condition. They'd been in beds for six months. Supposedly they would be weak as babies, but they were strong as a good pair of oxen.

They did their tests, and they asked their questions, but nothing turned up. Fury's mother had come to see her as soon as the news had gotten to her that her baby was alive and well. After a few days, they were let go from the hospital....

.... and walked right into the police. KPD had been baffled by the murders at Loor's home. The assailant was never found. There was no DNA left at the scene, no weapon, some prints on the door handle that never matched up with anyone, and evidence on the bodies that they were killed by a Japanese katana. They had all kinds of questions for both of the girls... who told them all they could.

Yes, they had seen the killer.

Yes, he had an accomplice.

No, they didn't know what he looked like. It was dark.

Yes, he used a katana.

No, they didn't know if he had a motive.

No, they'd never seen him before that night.

The cops came off rather miffed with the girls, seeing as they were hoping that they, being eye witnesses, would be able to blast the case wide open. Sadly, they didn't offer any more than what they already had. After they asked their questions, Loor asked her own about where all the things in the house had gone. Apparently it was in two places. Everything from the main floor of the house was evidence and was being kept by the law, and the rest of it was being kept in a storage place. The animals had run from the house, probably driven to desperation when no one was feeding them. The bodies hadn't been discovered till a week after the murders. Now that it was winter, the two cats that they owned were either feral or dead.

On top of all this... was child services. Some suit tried to instantly inform Loor that she'd be moving as soon as the authorities were done with her, that her uncle would be taking her in. He only lived two hours away, she could still keep in contact with her friends.

Loor took no time in punching holes in that one. When threatened with separation from Fury, she pulled every card she had. She knew the qualifications needed for one of her family to take her in. They had to be suitable.

She was fully willing to oust all of the little secrets her various extended family had. All the things she seen that her relatives had to hide, she was very open to talk about. Her uncle drank, her aunts weren't married, her grandparents were down in Florida and were retired, not financially prepared to take on a kid. Every option offered, she had a hole to blow in it.

Had any other kid tried it, they probably would have failed... but Loor was not to be denied. She even rejected her God father, who lived in Colorado, though she lied about him having a violent streak. The fact still stood that he wasn't married either, so he wasn't a favorable candidate.

Eventually Loor made mention that Fury's family was qualified as a foster family. Fury's mother had married her boyfriend in the child's absence, and the income was steady. It was a stable household...

And it was where Loor needed to be. It didn't matter what child services wanted to do with her. She knew their system, and she knew how to work people. When she wanted something, she got it. It was the attitude of a spoiled person, but a lot of Americans became spoiled by the system. Express enough emotion, and you could get anything.

And she could get anything. By the time February had ended and changed to March, Loor and Fury called the same place home. Loor had been taken to the storage place where her family's possessions were, and took her pick of what was there. Major assets like the vehicles had been sold to pay off some of the debt on the house before the bank took it back, but things like her computer and everything that had been in her room were still there.

She took things she wanted, things that had meaning to her. Among her personal possessions was something from each family member. Her mother's knife, her father's cook books in case she ever learned to use them, the house's gaming systems that she considered to be owned by herself and her brother, and her sister's favorite books. There was so much more in that storage bunker, but there was only so much she could take.

Once everything had settled, the girls had to return to school. The year was half over already, but it was either go and attempt it or re-do the seventh grade next year.

Fury was telling herself there wouldn't be a next year, but Loor just faced school with a grim face.

Middle school was one of the many things in life that she hated. A lot. She was already the freak, but now she had vanished for six months and returned. She'd go from freak to freak/celebrity for two days, and then she'd gain the status of super freak. The same thing had happened to Fury, but she didn't talk. If spoken to, Loor did speak.

Sometimes... silence was better.

The questions were always about the murders, her family, how she felt about it, how she managed to end up living with her best friend, and things of the nature. She answered cryptically, always. She'd use big words just to confuse them. It started out as entertaining, but ended in the world of annoying.

She wanted to kill the gossip girls that tailed her all day long. She was used to the treatment, but now she was actually capable of taking their lives.

Her friends didn't help either. At first they avoided her, acted like she and Fury weren't there. They eventually broke though, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Her ex. from last year, best known as D or Demon, talked about how much time he'd spent at the hospital, wondering when she was gonna die. One of her other friends, Sig, asked so many questions that Loor was sure she'd never answer them all... and she didn't want to lie.

But she couldn't tell them what had really happened. Fury had the same problem, and it made them travel the halls of the school together often. Only they understood each other. Only they knew what was really going on.

Only they knew where they were coming from.

Only Loor knew why Fury wrote in a note book all the time, writing love letters that she'd never send.

Only Fury knew why Loor slept through classes, staying up all night to study the moon and it's rotation.

Only they knew what they did before bed every night, going to Fury's basement to practice what they could without weapons or real equipment.

School day after school day was spent in an angry daze for Loor. She didn't know what to do with herself. At first she was numb, refusing to let herself enjoy anything. She wouldn't smile. She wouldn't talk unless someone said something to her first. She didn't care about the rumors, or the people calling her a freak. She was used to that. She didn't care about anything.

But Fury... she noticed this. She would make mention of things Loor would forget to do in taking care of herself. She'd remind her if she hadn't bathed in three days, or if she had forgotten the last two meals.

Loor was depressed, and Fury was hardly keeping above the surface. Keeping Loor on her feet was the only thing keeping Fury from the same behaviors.

Misery loves company.

As late March began the slight thaw from February, Fury decided it was time to address the issue. After school they sat in the cafeteria together, waiting for Fury's mom to come pick them up since they both hated the bus with a passion like no other.

Ironically, this is where they had become friends. Not where they'd met, but where they'd become friends the year before.

Loor sat quietly on the ledge of the huge picture window that covered most of one wall of the lunch room. She had her nose in the 15th volume of Inuyasha, as Fury had recently let her start reading the series. Fury usually knew better than to disturb Loor while she was reading, but today she wasn't letting Loor escape like that.

"_Onee-san..." _Fury addressed, carefully. "Can we talk?"

Loor didn't react, turning the page in the graphic novel. Her face remained dead, like it had been since they'd retaken their lives. There was nothing there. No joy, not even sadness, just some sort of rage that she held for everyone. She was empty.

Fury didn't quit, looking around to make sure no one else was close enough to hear whatever she might say. "I... I've noticed you're not doing very well. I mean, it's hard not to notice. You're not eating... or bathing... you're just... wasting away."

"I'm busy." She muttered, not lifting from the book.

"Doing what, staring at the moon all night and typing on your computer? You do the same as me, only I keep a notebook. You write a journal, but you write it like a letter, telling _him_ about everything that's happening---"

Fury broke off as Loor shut the book with a snap of the pages coming together. The motion was abrupt, as she hadn't even put a bookmark in. She gave a downright hostile look to Fury, her blue eyes seeming darker than Fury knew them to be. Her bright electric blue eyes had taken on shadows.

"What I do with my time is my business."

"It's mine too when you're killing yourself."

She shook her head, looking into the parking lot, trying to end the conversation.

"Loor, please, listen to me. I... I think this isn't going to work. You can't live your life like this... we can't. Not with all we know. After living life like that... learning all those amazing things... how can we go back to this? It's too simple for you. Maybe I'd manage it, but I wouldn't be happy about it."

Fury could see the reflection of Loor's eyes in the window, and they had narrowed.

"Don't get angry with me... I just think its time we went back and admit that leaving at all was a mistake."

Fury was still watching the reflection, and saw that Loor had opened her mouth to say something. She shut it again, and then finally said, "Your mom is here."

Fury looked up to the parking lot, and saw the dark blue truck pulled up to the sidewalk that ran along the lot. She sighed.

This argument wasn't over.

* * *

And we are back! Yeah, I decided since I got the day off today thanks to sub-zero temperatures that I'd put this up. I got my drivers license today too. YAY!

Like I said, first few chapters are gonna be kinda slow, story wise. I'm sorry. It had to happen.

**I don't own Naruto.**

~Loor


	2. Questions

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Two- Questions**

Loor had changed.

She knew she had changed, but she didn't really feel like acknowledging it. She knew that she didn't want to do anything, not even the things she enjoyed the most like playing video games or talking crap with her old friends. She didn't think of them that way anymore. They were just people.

Knowing so much more than they did... she felt like she had to look down her nose at them. She should have felt sad, but all she felt was angry. Angry at them, angry at herself, angry at everyone. It was how she'd been since they'd gotten back and the police had gotten done with her. She had feared she have to identify bodies from the murder or something, but the truth hurt a lot more.

Her family had already been buried. The memorial service had been a few months ago. It was then that she'd sunk to being the sub-person that she was. She knew where they were buried, seeing as Kingston only had one cemetery, but she hadn't gone to the graves. No, that would be accepting everything that had happened. She couldn't do that. She'd rather pretend that they were somewhere else. Maybe visiting her grandparents, or racing with her uncle. She wanted so many other things to be true, but they weren't.

Her family was dead, but she'd do anything not to accept that. What little enjoyment she got these days came from only a few things. Writing was first and foremost. Her computer had been brought to Fury's home, and she spent most of her time on it. Then there was time spent in Fury's basement. The basement was a cement floored wide open space. After some work with blankets to make the floor a little more padded, they turned it into a sparring ring.

Loor was ruthless. It was where she felt somewhat alive, and where Fury dared to think that she saw her sister almost smile. Bruises were covered up with make up, and they tried not to do any worse to each other.

But Loor's fighting didn't end there.

No, of course it didn't. School had always been her main stresser, and her punching bag. School was where giggling girls and sexist jocks took her dazed rage and turned her loose upon a population of kids who needed their asses kicked and would never go running to a teacher for the sake of pride.

But those were only the bad days. Since her return, Loor hadn't had one of those yet. No, not yet. Her punching bag was what it had always been; gym class.

"Loor, take it easy! You don't have to kill 'em!"

This was the shout of the gym teacher as Loor nailed a kid in the chest during dodge ball. In her first week back she re-established herself as athletic and aggressive, she the gym teachers tended to keep an eye on her. With her overly competitive attitude, she was potentially dangerous.

"He's still walkin'!" Loor shouted back, ducking an incoming ball. It made her think of practice with Sakura, on dodging traps. You had to move, but you had to think or you'd get nailed by something else. Of course, practice with Sakura had been with kunai, not colored balls, but the same lesson was learned.

The kid she had hit was holding his chest, looking like the wind had almost been knocked out of him. Loor only looked for a second before rolling out of the way of another incoming ball and popping up to catch one. This wasn't five-on-five dodge ball. This was class vs. class dodge ball. The middle school was overstuffed, so there were four different gym teachers that all worked in the same space at the same time. Dodge ball was just one of the ball chucking games where the four classes would pair off to form two teams and the whole gym would become an open playing field.

Loor was looking for a few people though. Fury got stuck on the other team this time. She'd be an interesting target, if Loor could find the damn girl.

She was also looking for those girls who talked shit about her during lunch. She knew who they were. Not that she actually cared, but it felt good to pick them off since all they did was stand near the wall and talk.

Sadly the hour was near over. The whistle blew before Loor had found anyone she was after. Most kids ran for the locker rooms, but Loor was one of those who took time to help return the balls to their box in the storage room. That made her one of the last to get to the locker room, but she didn't mind that at all. She didn't like trying to get into her locker while she was crowded at all sides by half naked girls complaining about how much gym class sucked because they actually had to _do_ something.

No, she rather get there and be the last to get dressed while the rest of them gathered around the door, waiting for the bell to ring. It let her sit on the bench between the rows of lockers, open her locker without anyone asking her for her deodorant, and take off her gym clothes and put on her normal clothes without anyone asking about the funny indentation in her ribs, or the scars on her face, or anything else.

No. She could put on her no-name jeans, black sleeveless shirt, and green coat without any questions at all. No one would ask why she wore boots all year long, or why she wore a blue band with a steel plate and a funny symbol around her middle, or why she had a bottle of sand tied around her neck.

That was what annoyed her the very most. Questions. All their questions. The first time one of them asked she had no problem with answering, but year after year she heard those questions about her boots and quirky sense of self, and day after day she'd heard questions about her headband and strange scars. It made her sick.

So very, very sick.

After she was dressed she shouldered her pack. She carried all of her books at all times, not seeing the point in using her locker. Shortly after she'd locked her gym stuff away and stood at the end of the lockers, Fury joined her.

Fury had taken to wearing Kiba's old coat every day. Aside from that she had name brand jeans that her mom insisted in dressing her in, and her hair and face done up. Fury let her mom do this to her, but she would never part with that coat. She wore her headband, though no one knew what those bands stood for. Fury wore it on the top of her head, using it to hold her hair back.

"They made me sit out 'cause I hit a kid in the head." Fury said, sounding embarrassed.

"Mmm..." Loor nodded slightly, staring off. "Did you hurt him?"

"He fell down. But I think he was okay..." She sounded like she felt bad for the guy.

"Throw harder next time."

The bell rang, and Loor started walking before Fury could say anything.

It didn't matter though. They were going to the same place. Gym was their third hour in a seven hour day, and after third hour all the seventh-graders congregated for lunch. Sixth graders were just clearing out on one side of the hall, seventh grade entering on the other side. Eighth grade ate last.

Some days Loor joined the line for lunch, other days she didn't. Today, she went straight to sitting down. There were two types of tables in the lunch room. Circular ones with chairs, and long ones with benches attached. She rathered the ones with chairs, and since she didn't go for the line she was the first to take a table.

Her back faced the huge window, where all the popular kids sat. She knew that with her back faced to them they would think she wasn't listening. They'd talk, and giggle, but it was when they got up and decided to go harass someone that Loor got interested.

It was how she got a lot of her friends. Defending fellow 'weirdos' like herself from pushy jocks and self-esteem attacking girls. But now she had no interest in the smiles she got from those she defended. No, she wanted one thing and one thing only.

She wanted an excuse to fight. She was looking for a reason to walk up to one of those pretty faces and mess it up real good. Between pent up anger and sleep deprivation, she'd take any excuse in a storm to be aggressive.

She doubted she'd get it now that she wanted it so badly. It was just like the spring she was wishing for, but the snow was stubborn and refused to melt.

March would crawl past, now that life was normal again. Day by day, Loor knew she'd live it out... a secret. She had always had a particular dislike for winter, but this was the worst. She felt useless, and without the ability to go out at night and expend her aggressive energy, it gathered in other places.

"Holy shit, is that a tattoo?"

Loor turned her head as a voice she hadn't heard in seven months broke into her thoughts.

The school was easily separated into two factions; popular kids and not so popular kids. The two halves had their sub groups but the main groups were understood. Like any other clique ridden school, both groups had an unofficial leader. People tended to cower behind Loor because it was a lot better than trying to get in front of her. For the other half of the school, it was a small Hispanic looking girl who had a lot of bark and an unverified amount of bite.

Her actual name was too long for the average person to pronounce, so most people called her Cuni.

The girl wasn't right behind her, she was the first one out of the line because everyone let her bud. She had her two 'BFFs' with her, which basically translated to body guards in middle school speak.

"What?" One of them asked as Loor turned back to her table, pretending she had a lunch in front of her.

"That funny mark on her neck. It's too dark to be a bruise..."

"I thought people got tattoos in prison, not the hospital."

"Maybe that's where she's really been and the hospital thing is just a cover story."

"But why would she be in prison?"

"Her family was murdered, weren't they? Maybe _she_ did it!"

Loor felt a twitch of rage. Listening to them accuse her, she'd rather they knew where she'd really been for the past seven months. She'd rather show them who the real killer was.

Loor knew. She'd love for these three to know. If they thought _she_ was scary, she would love to know what they thought of _him._

"_Oh, _my God. But then, like, she'd have to move to a different city or something so no one knew what she did!"

"No, they don't make you move, but she should. Everyone will find out sooner or later."

"How is everyone gonna find out?"

"We'll tell them of course!"

"Tell them what?"

Loor turned most of the way in her chair when she heard another voice enter the conversation.

Fury stood there with her lunch, looking at the three girls who were sitting there.

"None of your business, witch!" Cuni was the first to shout. The lunch room was already loud. Shouting was the only way to be heard.

"I heard what you said." Fury gave. "Trust me... Loor didn't kill anyone."

"Then where did she get that funny mark?"

"Some_thing_ bit her." Fury answered. "A snake."

"Ew! Gross. Why doesn't she cover it up?"

"She doesn't believe a person's body is meant to be altered." Fury's voice picked up a little annoyance. "Stop talking like that. She hasn't killed anyone... yet."

Loor almost smirked when she heard the three girls whimper. Fury came to the table a few moments later, sitting down and putting her lunch tray down.

"You didn't have to do that." Loor muttered.

"Yeah... but it's only our second week back at school. The teachers don't need any corpses on their hands. Anyway... its kinda fun to scare 'em."

"Agreed."

Fury started in on lunch, glancing at her sister. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"No."

Fury gave a slight and frustrated sigh, pushing her tray away. "Fine."

"Hm? You should eat."

"So should you." Fury answered, sounding somewhat snotty. "If you don't eat, I won't."

"I'm not eating because I'm not hungry." Loor answered, beginning to glare at her brown haired friend. "You're underweight. You need it."

"I was born two months premature. I'm always going to be underweight." Fury shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "You put out more effort during sparring. You need it."

Loor took on the tactic of silence, and Fury did the same. Neither ate.

The bell rang, and Loor made a point of taking the tray and tossing the untouched lunch.

* * *

Since her return, Loor found that science class was by far her favorite. Being seventh hour it was her last class in the day, and she liked it that way. Why? Two reasons. She was already incredibly good at science so she didn't have to listen to a damn word of the class and she could still do the assignments without cracking open the book, and the teacher was one of those guys who didn't pay much attention so she could sleep as much as she wanted in the class with no fear of the teacher calling her out.

The only issue with this class was a guy named Roy.

Loor had never seen the kid before, but as she heard it he had moved in during her absence. According to her mental time-line he had just started in this school a few days after she and Fury had arrived back at home from where they'd been during the last several months.

She didn't know him, and didn't want to know him, but the fact that he sat at the same table as her during science made it very hard to ignore him. He'd poke her whenever the class was supposed to be taking notes or doing homework, telling her that if she slept through the class she'd fail for sure. Of course, Loor would take three seconds to point out whatever things he had wrong on his work and he would leave her alone.

But after the first week, he started asking questions. Such was today. She came into class, went to her table at the back of the room, dumped her bag against the back counter, and turned her chair backwards to sit in it the wrong way, leaning the chair against the table to let her arms hang and her head rest on the two person table.

She closed her eyes, hoping she could nod off before her table mate showed up.

No such luck.

Roy's arrival at the table was always preceded by the sound of all the girls in the class saying hi to him. Loor didn't see why. He was average height and had dark red hair tied into a low pony, wore a choker with two gold rings on it, and always wore a baggy T with a long sleeved shirt under it and no-name jeans. Even if he had a hot body going on, no one would be able to tell. Still, the girls always went for the new guys, so she tried not to be too annoyed by it.

He walked up to the table and Loor heard him put his books on the table, sitting in his chair before saying what he said every day without fail, so far.

"I thought people slept at night."

"I'm part cat." She answered, not bothering to pretend she was already gone. She'd gone down that road before. He had taken a marker to the back of her neck.

"Then where's your tail?" He questioned. It was obvious that he was teasing her, but his voice was too good-natured. Loor got the feeling that he might've been flirting, but she didn't understand that. No boy in the entirety of KMS would flirt with her. They knew better.

On the other hand, Roy was a newbie. He may have been hanging with the popular crowd, but apparently they were yet to fill him in on the dangers of making moves on Loor Randolph. Girls viewed Loor as an angry, under-washed mystery who was fun to poke and prod till violence became involved. Some boys understood Loor as a tomboy and accepted her among the male ranks, and others viewed her as a land mine that was best avoided. Still others viewed her as a challenge, but the males in this category were the ones fastest to learn that she was not the target, she was the archer.

Roy would learn... when she was more awake.

"I keep it with my fangs and claws." She yawned, putting her arms on the table and resting her head in them. "Consider yourself lucky that I decided not to bring them in today."

"Why do you sleep through this class?" He questioned. "Are you up all night?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact."

The bane of her school-life; questions. She had been dreading when the new kid would take on the traits of all the other kids. He'd ask some new stuff and then fall into all the other questions; she knew he would.

"Why?"

"I'm busy."

He was quiet as the bell rang to signal the beginning of class. He looked like he had another question, but the bell shut everyone up so the teacher could come in from the back room to take attendance and begin class. As always, he started with lecture on what they did yesterday and what they were going to do today.

While the teacher was going on about cinder cone volcanoes, Loor took the opportunity to go to try and sleep before Roy could ask any more questions... or anyone else for that matter.

Sadly she had hardly started to doze when the lecture ended.

She knew she wasn't going to get much sleep when Roy started poking her shoulder.

"You know, I have half a mind to bite that finger if you keep poking me." She mumbled crossly.

"We're supposed to be copying terms out of the book. Aren't you going to do any of your assignments?"

She lifted her head from her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Do I need to? Am I going to die if I don't? I highly doubt the teacher is going to go raving ax murderer on me; he's too much of a stoner." She settled back down, but left her eyes open. "I have better things to do."

There was a pause, and then Roy asked a strange question.

"You really hate this place... don't you? Why are you still here?"

She let her eyes drift over, not turning her head. She knew she was glaring, but she was becoming curious as well as angry. "Too young to drop out."

"Why don't you just run away?"

"Why are you so full of damn questions?" Her voice was beginning to enter the dangerous range.

"Curiosity." He said simply. "I've heard a lot of rumors about you... how you're crazy and always want to fight, and you're almost always angry. And everyone is saying your family is dead, that they were murdered. I don't like trusting information till I've heard it from the actual person."

Sighing, she turned her head to the side to look at him and still rest on her arms. "So you just want me to verify what you've heard? Then you'll leave me alone?"

He shrugged, flashing her a smile. "Maybe."

She made sure to give him the hardest 'not happening' look she could.

He put his hands up. "Okay, okay, strictly question and answer basis. I got it."

She nodded slightly, closing her eyes. "Yeah. They're dead. Whole extended family tried to take me outta this place, but I got things important to me here."

"Whoa, so you... broke the law to stay here? Are you living on your own?" He had lowered his voice, as if they were talking about something very wrong.

"No. Had myself fostered by the family I needed."

He didn't question her cryptic answer. "So, why are you so angry all the time?"

"Just am." She shrugged her shoulders. "Something about this place, being surrounded by stupid people at all times. I'm tired of them. I was tired of them four years ago, when I first moved to this town." She lifted a hand and gestured to a group of girls and boys in front of them who had congregated around the two front tables. They were gossiping and laughing, and Loor knew none of what they were laughing at was actually funny. Not to her. They were making fun of kids and laughing at their little flaws, looking around for new targets. They always were.

"You see them?" She questioned. "Every day... every damn day they sit there, and there are knots like those in other classes too. They're pulling apart people who are different from them, coming up with new rumors, and laughing at all the cruel things they've said to other kids. They're so stupid. I don't know why it goes hand in hand, but I've talked to those people before. They can't understand me... they can't understand anything but the gratification they get from putting others down."

Roy looked at her, blinking as he saw pure hate in her eyes, and a frown on her face that questioned something. She looked at those kids like a starving wolf, looking to bite anything she could.

"I hate this place. And though this exact group isn't the reason..." She closed her eyes. "I hold people like them responsible."

In her head, she had one question for herself.

_Why the hell did I come back for this?_

* * *

Before anyone asks; Roy is not based off of any of my buddies. He's an OC, but he is significant. Trust me. -Evil smile-

And trust me when I say there is a reason for me doing this. I know that when I did this with VoW it was a dud of a book because I had no reason for doing it other than for kicks. This won't take up the whole book. Less than twenty chapters are spent in Loor's home sweet home if I write it right.

I just don't wanna rush things, but I don't want things to get boring. Tough balance.

Oh well.

**I own nothing.**

-Loor


	3. Responsible

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Three- Responsible**

"_Onee-san?"_

Loor came out of her self-induced stasis with a shock, looking up from where she'd been sleeping lately.

Fury's house was a split level like Loor's, though Fury was in suburbia, not out in the country. Technically there were bedrooms on the upper floor for the girls, but Fury didn't sleep in her room. Ever. She had an air mattress in the lower level in the living room. She slept between the love seat and the coffee table, whereas Loor slept on the couch that the coffee table was sent in front of.

It was late, and that was where the sisters were. Sitting where they slept, though neither of them had fallen asleep yet. Fury was looking up at Loor, her eyes rolled towards her sister rather than the huge TV in the room that was on Cartoon Network.

Loor looked down, having gone into her brain a long time ago. She blinked a few times before responding. "Hm? _Was?" _

Loor had been staying in her German vocabulary a lot more, keeping away from Japanese.

"What's on your mind?"

Loor shrugged. Her eyes wondered the room as if she could pull an answer out of the air. Finally she came upon the statement; "Winter sucks."

"I know." Fury sighed. She lived in this level and the basement level, and they both got to be very cold during the winter. "But... I wanted to talk."

"More talk about going back?" Loor snorted. She stared at the TV, and the episode of Inuyasha that was playing. The episode had aired earlier, but she pretended to be interested in it to shut Fury up. "Nonsense."

"Why can't you just admit your stubbornness led you to the wrong choice?" Fury questioned. She looked desperately at her elder sister. "Loor, please. You can't just sit here and we both know it. Coming home didn't make any sense!"

Loor glanced at her sister. It was a quick shift of the eyes, and it expressed something that Fury felt hope for. Loor seemed uneasy in that single glance. Unsure.

"Shut up."

"But..." Fury's jade eyes were wide, begging for Loor to see sense.

"We should be sleeping." She dismissed, lying back and turning toward the back of the couch, away from the rest of the room and her younger sister. "_Guten Nacht." _

"Would you stop being so damn stupid?" Fury's voice became frustrated. She wasn't backing down this time. "I know you're usually the brains of this team but I honestly don't know why we're here, and there's a thousand and one ways we could run away and not leave any loose ends. We could fake our own deaths or run away and leave a note saying we couldn't stand being here, or--"

"I wasn't telling you to shut up."

"Huh?"

"She's... uh... sitting on the love seat. Behind you. Haven't seen her since we got home..." Loor sighed. "She's talking as much as you are. More."

Fury looked behind herself, to the love seat, as if she'd see something. Still, she did not. It took her a few moments to remember who the 'she' was.

Loor's demonic entity. Lyra.

"I... I don't want to talk to her, or see her at all. But if I close my eyes, things get worse." Loor sounded unstable. Not to the point of crying, but most certainly disturbed. "She's... she's changed so. It's been a month, a moon, and she's..."

"Loor, you can't handle this alone."

"Is everything a reason to leave home?"

"No, everything is a reason to _go_ home. What's left for us here? My family? _School? _I know how much you hate this place, and I'm still trying to figure out why you wanted to come back so badly." Fury shook her head. "This isn't home anymore. It's a prison..."

There was silence.

"Me too." Loor muttered. "I don't know either."

"So what?" Fury questioned. "We're here... for a reason that you don't know? Did you forget?"

"No... my heart knows it. But my heart and my head aren't talking right now. My head is _kaputt. _Broken. My heart is even more so... shattered. They want to heal, but they don't know how. I thought we were coming here to escape the one person I want to kill... but that doesn't make any sense. Why escape him when I can face him? Why? What drives me so?"

"What will we do when you figure it out?"

"I'll know when I find out what brought me back here."

"I would so ditch you if you weren't my sister."

"Yeah... I know."

* * *

"No sleeping today?"

Roy's remark followed the fact that Loor wasn't dozing off when he entered the science class. She was standing at the back counter of the room, actually, looking out the window. The back wall had four windows, all lined up and equally spaced. Loor was looking out of the one that was directly behind their desk.

On that late February day, the temperatures had made it over forty-five degrees. What did that mean?

It meant the melt that led to spring was beginning.

She glanced back at him, seeming as cold as ever. "The melt came early this year." She mentioned, looking back out the window. The roof was dripping now and then, and everything looked wet.

The window looked out upon the sidewalk leading from the gym's outdoor exit to the left and the woods that surrounded the school on the right. The football field was about another one hundred and some yards straight out, currently recognizable only by the goal posts.

"And this interests you why?" Roy questioned, dropping his bag and coming to stand by her, leaning on the counter. He was still wearing his usual T and undershirt combination, which stuck out to Loor. When the weather crossed the forty degree threshold the average Minnesotan switched to T shirts or less. She herself was wearing a black sleeveless with her green coat hanging around her middle, held on by the headband.

"I hate winter." She said simply. "I don't mind the cold, but do rather the warmer part of the year."

"Why?" He was showing his usual curiosity. At least his questions were somewhat intelligent, unlike the other kids that populated the school. "It doesn't snow where I'm from, and I like it a lot. There's a lot of stuff you can do with snow."

"But it's harmful to the body when a person is exposed." She let her eyes come away from the snow, putting her back to the counter and looking at him. "A person can't go without shoes in the snow, or go out without extra clothes. There's frostbite, and all that crap." She snorted, sitting in her chair as the bell rang.

He came to his chair, not taking his eyes off of her. "Why would you want to go without shoes? I've never seen you wear anything but those big boots of yours."

She glanced at her feet, regarding her Sorel boots with a slight nod. She did love her boots because her toes would get cold in any other footwear, even during the summer. Her feet would sweat a lot and if she was wearing anything less that was still closed toe, her toes would freeze. She didn't mention this, but simply said; "With me it's boots or bare foot. Preferably bare foot."

He lowered his voice as the teacher started taking roll. "Why?"

"Is it just me or do you have more questions than usual today?" She snorted, becoming annoyed with the subject. He gave her an innocent look, and she shrugged. "Whatever. I like not wearing anything on my feet because I like to dig in with my toes. I can run faster without shoes, and it helps with balance when you can hang on with your feet."

"What would _you_ need balance for? It's not like you people do anything but go to school."

She snapped a look at him, not for the question but for how he said it. "_Me?" _She gave, putting just as much stress on the word. "Do you even know who the hell I am?"

The teacher finished taking roll, starting on the lecture for the day. Loor wasn't paying attention, still whispering furiously.

"Haven't you heard what I've done to some of the kids around here? And they thought I had issues back then, ha! They should see me now. They're lucky none of this number has sent me into one of my old rages yet, because there wouldn't be anything left."

He stared at her, blinking. "Have you ever killed anyone?" He hissed back after a few seconds.

"I wish."

"Loor, Roy!"

The guilty parties glanced up to see the teacher staring right at them. The teacher was incapable of looking upset, but he did look a little disturbed.

"Loor, I'm glad to see you awake during class, but I'd appreciate if you didn't talk over me." The teacher directed. "Roy, don't enable her."

Loor stared a few seconds before yawning in response, putting her head down and returning to her usual position during lecture; dozing. The teacher sighed, shaking his head, as Roy shrugged helplessly.

But he was curious. So very curious.

His curiosity had to wait till work time though. He waited till the teacher had disappeared behind his computer and most of the students had formed in the big knot at the front of the class that Loor despised ever so much.

"So who did you wish you killed?" He questioned, leaning over his book to make it look like he was working.

She didn't move. He hoped she hadn't fallen a sleep. She usually didn't fall asleep that fast.

"I said, who did you--"

"I heard you." She interrupted.

"So?"

"So who do you think?" She seemed more irritated with him than usual. "My family is dead. You put two and two together. I wanna kill the man responsible."

"The man responsible?" He questioned. "Is that the same as the person that killed them?"

"Hm?" She groggily lifted her head from her arms, looking at him. "What do you mean?"

"The person responsible isn't always the one who did the dirty work." Roy gave her a slight smirk. "For all you know, someone else could have been involved. Someone else could have been responsible."

She raised an eyebrow. "Someone else?"

His smirk widened, shrugging. "Just an idea."

"Only if they gave the order."

His face fell. "Excuse me?"

She returned her head to her folded arms. "The person who gave the order is responsible. He's the leader. First rule of leadership; _everything_ is your fault."

He shook his head. "Say this extra person is someone who has no idea what's going on, but things were set in motion just because they were there. You're saying that the leader is at fault anyway?"

"Well, for fear of sounding stupid, _duh. _When you run into a challenge in a group setting, and you ask someone to overcome that challenge and they can't, who's fault is it? The challenge's fault for being there, or the leader's fault for sending the wrong person to do it?" She closed her eyes. "Think about it. It's dumb to blame the obstacle. It doesn't know you're there, trying to overcome it. It just exists."

He became oddly silent, turning back to his book.

"All out of questions?" She looked over at him. "That discussion was just getting interesting."

He was quiet for a while, writing down a few things before answering. "Take that situation. Pretend _you're_ the obstacle, and it caused the death of two people. Say you met their kid, and you found out that he was now alone, all thanks to you. Would you be sorry? Would you feel responsible?"

"Was their any way I could have stopped the deaths from happening, short of not existing?"

"No."

"Then I'd feel sorry for him, perhaps a little guilty that there was nothing I could do... but responsible? No. It's not my fault they got sent to their deaths because of me. That would be the fault of whoever sent them."

She lifted her head and looked him in the eye. She was pretty sure it was the first time she'd ever made eye contact with him. He had brown eyes, but they weren't soft. No, they were solid and strong. His jaw was set, and his brow was slightly furrowed.

She read him like an open book.

"Don't think I'll flirt with you just because you lost your family too." She snorted. "That's it, isn't it? You thought you'd connect with me on this one, because you've been there too. Probably recently, and that's why you moved here to get away from the memories. I don't care who they got picked off by, or why... don't kill the person who didn't know. Go after the person who knew exactly what was going on the whole time... and decided your parents were disposable."

His eyes seemed to flash an unearthly yellow. She blinked, but his eyes were still brown. After a few seconds and a few more blinks, she put her head back down.

"How did you know?"

"Its like spotting someone who lies, or cheats, or would rather kill themselves rather than live another day. When you are one of those people, you can always spot one of your own. You're looking for your target, just like I'm looking for mine." She paused. "But I already know where mine is."

"What's to say I don't?"

"Because..." She yawned. "I just made you doubt who your target was."

* * *

Loor left her last class behind to meet Fury by her locker, kids swarming all around to get to the buses as fast as possible. Once the bell rang at three PM the whole place was a mosh pit of middle school kids trying to get to their lockers and get the hell out. Loor didn't use her locker, but it was right next to Fury's, which gave her a good place to lean till the younger sister had packed up all her stuff and they were ready to go home.

Fury was in no rush when Loor got there. They got a ride home every day anyway, so their was no point in rushing. Loor sauntered into the locker bay, nodding to Fury as the younger girl looked up, and went up to her locker to wait like she usually did.

Loor found something on her locker.

"What the hell is this?" Loor questioned, looking at the thing taped to her locker.

It was pink notebook paper that had been written on with purple pen. Loor looked upon it like it was toxic. She _hated_ pink.

"I don't know." Fury was stuffing books into her bag. "You tell me."

"I don't want to touch it." Loor muttered, her eyes lazily dragging over the penmanship on the front of the folded over notebook paper.

_Loor, You're Invited!_

Invited to what was the question. She was never invited to anything.

Sighing, she poked the flap of the note up, wishing to light the thing on fire rather than read it.

"What is it?" Fury questioned.

"An invitation to a party." Loor answered dryly.

"Really?" Fury looked up, surprised.

"Yeah... at the local prison."

"We don't have a prison in Kingston."

"I know." Loor snorted, ripping the note off of her locker and throwing it away. "A joke, complements of Cuni and her posse. God, why can't those girls leave me alone?"

"Awe, you didn't like my little invitation?"

Loor, standing at the garbage can at the end of the locker bay, turned around to see Cuni and her girls walking out of their locker bay. Fury had stood up at this point to close her locker and stand by Loor.

"You think that's funny?" Loor questioned, dropping her bag to the floor. "Why don't you come over here, and I'll give you something to _really_ laugh about."

Cuni giggled, the cue for the two other girls with her to start giggling with her. It made an all around annoying sound between them, like grating nails on a chalkboard. "You think you can take me, you blond ape? What are you going to do, kill me with your lack of hygiene? Oh, look out, Loor's gonna have her under-washed mutant hair strangle us all!"

Fury grabbed Loor's arm. The girl had her fists balled, her shoulders tensed. Fury knew that look. Loor was pissed, and rightfully so, but school was not the place to be setting people straight when there were three security cameras to see everything.

"Not all of you. Just you, Cuni." Loor looked directly at the short ring leader. She smiled. It was the first smile she had showed since returning home. But it wasn't happy. No, it was huge, toothy, sick, and twisted. She had her mind on causing Cuni pain, and she took pleasure in it.

It was scary.

"What?" Cuni took two steps out of the protection of her cronies. "You wanna go, bitch? You wanna go right here?"

Loor took four steps, breaking away from Fury, standing nearly chest-to-chest with Cuni and looking down at the short Hispanic girl. "You wanna go to hell? Cause you could be there in the next five seconds."

"Loor..." Fury warned.

"Don't worry." Loor was still grinning. "No... not now, not here, but soon." She took a hold of Cuni's chin, forcing the girl to look up at her. She was sure that she was hurting the short girl, and she enjoyed it. "I'll make you wish you'd never called someone a name, or made fun of them, or even laughed behind someone's back. I'll teach you a lesson that you and yourlike will never forget."

Cuni stared up at Loor, her dark eyes wide with shock that Loor had dared to touch her, to threaten her with such hate. Both of her cronies had made sounds of protest but had done nothing. After a few seconds Loor let go, turning and walking back to Fury,

Cuni stared for a moment before her mouth started working again. As usual, it ticked someone off. "Yeah, you better just walk away! You touch me again and I'll have my family sue you! You even think about it and you'll be in jail so fast--"

Loor turned around and grabbed Cuni so quick, no one really saw it. One second she was facing Fury, picking her back up, the next Cuni was held up against the end of a row of lockers, Loor's hand around her neck.

"Put her down you sick-o!" Yelped one of Cuni's cronies, running up to do something. The other one followed, but Loor hauled back to hit one of them, the follow-through smacking the other one in turn. She struck with an open hand though, as not to leave marks.

Once they were knocked away, Loor looked back at Cuni.

"My family is dead." Loor stated, looking coldly at the small and frightened girl. "I watched them be brutally murdered. You ever seen someone die before? It's disgusting. But more than that, it's terrifying. After all that... do you honestly think I'm scared of a little shit-fuck like you?"

She dropped her, stepping back. "Go ahead, call your authorities... I don't give a shit. I don't have anything else left to lose."

Loor turned, grabbed her bag, and looked to Fury.

"Shall we?"

Fury blinked a few times, nodding and leading the way for the two of them to hurry off.

* * *

I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!

And putting these up against my editors will. Mom and I are fighting a lot right now, and now she's insisting we go through all the chapters together. I say fuck that. I write, she edits, I conform to her magic pen of DOOOOOOM! And publish. No fucking reading together. I can't stand hearing my stuff read out loud anymore.

Oh well.

Happy reading.

**No ownage, **

-Loor


	4. Smile

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Four-Smile**

"You did what?"

"I told you. I... uh..."

"You killed me!"

It was before school on a Friday. Loor didn't like Fridays much because it was every Friday a social worker dropped by to make sure all was well, but irony would have it that this morning was the first time Loor had actually smiled since coming home.

And she was smiling. "I had to."

"Loor, how could you?" Fury was aghast, sitting next to the heater in the little room between the main door to the outside and the second door that went into the school. This was where they hung out in the mornings, dropped off by Fury's mother. "I mean... what chapter are you on? Ten?"

"Five." Loor corrected. "It's just... the fans liked it so much the first time I did it, I had to keep it."

Loor was standing, as if she had to present her case for killing off Fury... or at least, her character in the story Loor was writing at the time. At the grand age of twelve, Loor had gotten into fanfiction for her favorite video game. The story was Vacation or War, better known as VoW. Months ago, actually during their absence, the story had been deleted for poor grammar.

After getting back to her computer, Loor had decided to rewrite the story. Some pieces she had gotten rid of, but there were other pieces she had kept... like killing off Fury in chapter five.

"What do they think of it now?" Fury questioned.

"No one complained. I remember when people were threatening me with sporks the first time around. That was funny." She chuckled, walking over to stand next to where Fury was sitting, leaning on the wall.

"Whatever." Fury sighed, dismissing it. "It's good to see you smile."

"I was smiling?" She questioned, putting a hand to her face. "Huh... guess I was. I donno. My writing makes me happy."

"At least something does." Fury sighed, looking outside. It was shaping up to be another warmer day. The snow was still melting.

"First day of March tomorrow." Loor mentioned, quietly. The smile had faded away, the recent chapter only bringing her a few moments of pleasure. "Scary, huh? We'll have been home for... about a month and a half."

"And spring is early. Bet you're looking forward to that."

"Of course."

"Have you...?"

"No... not yet. I still haven't found it. Something is different." She sighed, shaking her head. "I was... stargazing last night. Didn't go outside, just looking up through a window, but..." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Something was missing. I'm not sure what, but something was so different. So wrong. I felt like I needed to do something, but didn't know what."

"You're creeping me out, Loor." Fury got to her feet as the first buses started pulling into the school parking lot. "I'm usually the one who talks about supernatural stuff."

"This isn't supernatural." Loor opened her eyes, staring outside before she moved to leave the small room and head into the school. "Something is missing, but I can't remember what. Something to do with my stargazing habits. I've forgotten... something."

"Well you better remember it soon." Fury put an arm around her sister's shoulders as they went toward their day. "There's only so long I wanna wait before we decide what to do from here. Much longer, and I'm gonna skip town without you."

"You can't." Loor gave her a look. "You don't have enough energy on your own. If we leave, we have to leave together or we don't have enough power."

"I know." Fury sighed, shaking her head. "Why doesn't anyone get my jokes?"

* * *

"Who is Lyra?"

Loor was shocked out of her personal thoughts when someone asked this question. She had been sketching in her notebook, writing out a rough copy for VoW when a voice had called her out of her brain.

Roy's voice.

It was the reminder that she was in science class, not Haven City. She looked down at her sketch of Lyra, which was clearly labeled with the creature's name. After that she looked up to find Roy leaning out of his chair, looking at her notebook.

"She's my muse." Loor answered, angling her notebook away from him.

"Muse?" He questioned. "What's a muse?"

Ah, finally there was a question he had asked that every other kid in the school had asked. She was worried that the boy was completely original.

"Inspiration."

How many times had she answered that way? She could go into how she talked to herself to get writing ideas off of every day experiences, but the short answer gave people less material to make rumors out of. She already knew she was crazy, she didn't need the entire school calling her a schizophrenic.

"Oh." He shrugged, nodding. "Okay."

She nodded, happy that he backed off. Most people pressed further. "She's also a character in the story I'm writing."

"Really? You write?"

"A lot. I wanted to be an author."

"Wanted?" Roy's brown eyes had curiosity, like they always did. "Did that change?"

"Not sure. Hard to keep your priorities straight when you're out of your mind." She sighed. "But Lyra... she started as a figment of my imagination, but she ended up as so much more. She's a character, pure evil, yes, but also... putting her in writing has made her all the more real to me."

He gave her a look. She expected him to make a face and go 'Jeez you're weird, don't talk to me anymore' or something like that. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully. "Things are as real as you let them be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She questioned, giving him a look. It was a cryptic phrase that sounded more like something she'd say. Last she checked she was the only human being in this town capable of complex thought.

"A person with a strong mind can make things seem real with the right reason why behind it, or make things seem equally unreal with the correct reasoning behind it. We explain things to ourselves, make things seem real or otherwise." He was looking back at his textbook, but it was more like he was looking through it. "Everyone does it, but it takes a smart person to be aware of it... how a person can rationalize things."

"You sound like you got something on your mind." She noted. "Were you rationalizing something? Like hating the extra person involved in your parents' death?"

"Perhaps." He looked at her, a sudden change in his face. He stared through narrowed eyes. "What about you? Did you ever have to rationalize hating the person who killed your family, or did it just... come naturally?"

"Completely natural." She hugged her notebook to her chest. "If I rationalized it, I'd just hate him all the more. It's fine the way it is, left on the level of raw emotion... rage. I really don't wanna think about it. He needs to die. That's all there is to it."

"Don't want to think about it?" He repeated, sounding a little surprised. "Don't you think about possible ways to get revenge on him for killing your family?"

"I..." She paused.

She felt something. It was cold, and painful.

"I try to leave my family out of my rage when I do think about it. It hurts. Too much. I just focus on the rage part. I know I need to kill him, and that's all. That's as far as my thoughts go... maybe because..."

She trailed off.

"Because?"

She shook her head. "Enough. Enough on that subject." She looked at him. She was becoming emotional, and it was obvious that she didn't want anyone to see. "No more on death. I just started smiling again today. I don't need to go back to tears."

He put his hands up, nodding. He could understand her feelings on the subject. "Fine, fine, I had a question for you anyway."

"You always have a question for me."

"True, but I consider this one a little more important." He said this while taking the binder out of his longer dark red hair, deftly running his fingers through the hair before loosely braiding it. "I was wondering if the no flirting rule was still in place, now that you're in a better mood."

She twitched, giving him a look. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"

"I guess not, despite all my questions." He said this with a good humored smirk. She was glaring, but he couldn't be bothered.

"I don't welcome relationships." She finally said, turning back to her notebook.

"I'm not talking about a relationship." He put his hand on her notebook. "I'm talking about simple flirting."

"There's nothing simple about flirting." She picked up his hand by the wrist, digging her nails into his wrist while moving him away from her notebook. "You keep messing with me, and I'll make you wish you were never born."

"Already there, Loor." He didn't react to her clawing her, twisting his hand to get out of her grip with ease.

She looked at him sharply. Her gaze was harsh, almost feral. After a while she questioned him. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

He smirked at her. "Who do you think you are? I think I'm a boy who wants to have a little fun."

"I think I'm a tom-boy who hates relationships." She got up from her chair as the bell rang, ending the day. "And who's had enough of you."

"When was the last time you were on a date?" He questioned, ignoring her angry demeanor.

"Never. Unless you count going to a movie with a guy I didn't like much in grade school." She was angrily stuffing her notebook and her textbook into her bag. She was getting very annoyed with Roy, more annoyed by the second.

"Then you don't know enough about relationships to hate them." He had stood up from his chair as the class was clearing out. "And you don't know enough about me."

"And you obviously don't know enough about me." She was pulling her pack to her shoulder. "Or you would know by now that every guy that's ever flirted with me has gotten his ass kicked on the asphalt where the buses park."

"Fine." He said, following her into the rush of students outside of the classroom. "Call it a test. If I pass it, you have to agree to flirting, and one date."

She stopped, just outside the class. She was just outside of the traffic zone, the rush of people in front of them. "You think you can beat me?"

"I know I can." He said cockily.

"Fine." She snorted at him, rolling her eyes. "First day they let us outside again after lunch to hang out on the asphalt... I'll take you down."

"How long will that take?" He faked being irritated at the delay, once again showing humor.

"Once all the snow is melted, they usually let us outside after lunch."

"So we're waiting for spring." He smirked at her. "Good enough for me."

"You're so dead, buddy boy." She gave him a look. "You're lucky that I can't actually kill someone, for fear of my social worker moving me to a different house."

She then stepped into the crush of people, vanishing between kids and their bags.

Roy stood there, smirking.

"You're the lucky one, Loor, that I decided not to kill you."

* * *

"Loor, you can't start going outside again. It's too early."

"Says who? It's plenty warm. Don't be such a baby, Fury."

"You're gonna get sick. There's still snow out there."

"I don't care, Fury. I... I gotta find something, and it's not in here."

"So you think you're gonna find it outside, in the middle of the night?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because... I need to."

* * *

SUSPENSE!!!

No... not really. XP Loor keeps going outside to find things. I think we all know she'll find it, we're just wondering what she finds. What could be missing???

You just wanna click that little button down there, don't you? Not the review button, the next chapter button. I'd like it if you clicked the review button though. It makes me happy.

Riddle me this... has anyone figured out Roy yet?

-evil laugh-

**No ownage,**

ONWARD!!

(God I have been watching too much Invader Zim)


	5. In Loving Memory

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Five- In Loving Memory**

She had no idea what drove her out there. It was a long walk in the dark, under a half full moon, among patchy snow. She wore shoes, and all that she wore during the day, but she shivered at the night's cold. Despite this chill, she walked. She walked the five mile stretch that was between Fury's home and her old home, looking up at the stars. She didn't look when cars honked at her, or when the road turned. She followed her feet.

Her feet led her home.

Her long walk led her to her old house, to the back part of the property. She walked to where she thought all of this began.

She stood on the area that she and Fury treated as sparring grounds. She still looked up at the stars, squinting at them as if they could answer her questions.

What was missing? What was wrong?

"Such a cold place, my friend. I wonder why you wanted to come back so badly."

Loor didn't look. She knew that voice. She didn't care for it. It was too sweet, too sexual, too soft, too perfect, to the point of being sicking. And beyond that... it was getting worse. That voice came from a creature that was already the epitome of everything wrong and unaccepted, everything beastly, violent, sick, and sexual. Every taboo that could be broken, was broken along this creature's actions and form.

This vile and beautiful beast... was Lyra. How could she be getting worse, you might ask?

She changed with every full moon.

"It's my home. I needed to come back. I felt the need... and followed it." Loor said this to the sky, knowing that Lyra sat near her, at her feet.

"Do you know why, my friend?" Lyra gave one of her melodic giggles, which was a cue for Loor to be afraid. "You came here seeking something that no longer exists. Home was a symbol for you. This house, this town, these people, were a symbol of a stable and happy time... though there were parts that you hated."

"There's nothing good left..." Loor shook her head. "Is there?"

"Depends." Lyra had come to stand, practically putting her head on Loor's shoulder. It sickened Loor to be able to feel her when she was no more than an illusion. Despite that fact, Loor could feel the weight of the creature's head, and smell that rotting-sweet scent that came off of her. "What was good?"

Loor knew the answer to that question.

Everything came clear. Loor wanted to come home for one reason and one reason only; she wanted to hide. Her brain told her that home was safe, and happy, and stable... but the very thing that made it so was gone.

Her family... was gone.

"That's it." Lyra purred, catching the thought as it crossed Loor's mind. She sank to the ground again, stalking a little circle around her host. "You wanted them back, didn't you? Thought you could come home, and all would be well. You couldn't take it. You were faced with one too many events, and you cracked." Lyra's words were aggressive, but she never rose above her almost lusty-sounding and even tone. "But you needed to see it, didn't you? You needed to realize it."

Loor looked. Lyra was in front of her, getting to her feet again. The beast had changed further in the last full moon. Most of her skin was now sandy with purple veins stringing along her whole body, and her ebony hair had started turning glittering gold at the roots. Her claws took up the same shine, and the fang that had caused the whole mess almost looked natural in her mouth.

"You needed to see it... to know that they were really gone." Lyra stepped close, smirking. "That's right, isn't it? Even if you had stayed where you had been, you would have always wanted to home, felt that tug, to get this final closure. Well, here it is."

Lyra was too close. Way too close. Loor wanted to back away, or even run, but couldn't. She stayed rooted to the spot as Lyra took hold of her chin. The two were nearly touching noses, and their chests were pressed together at the close proximity. It would have been awkward if it wasn't scary.

"They're dead, Loor. Dead, rotting, and in the ground."

Loor stared. Lyra's eyes were glittering gold pits now, eyes she'd gotten from Shukaku... but they reflected their old inky blackness. They reflected the harsh truth.

Loor couldn't take it. She closed her eyes.

"No."

"Denying it doesn't help." Lyra let go of her chin, dragging her claws up the girl's cheek. "You saw it. Deal with it. They're gone, and they're not coming back. Ever. You want closure on this? Kill Orochimaru. There's your closure."

She shook her head. She didn't want to listen to Lyra, feeling tears well up. "No... it just can't be... it can't be... they've always been there."

"But they're not!" Lyra snapped. Her voice dropped an octave, making her go from sweet to cruel. She suddenly hauled back, hitting Loor across the face. Despite the fact that the creature didn't exist, Loor was thrown into the wet snow on the ground. "They're gone! Face it Loor! I won't have you kill yourself over people who're stuck in the stars now!" She stalked over, hauling Loor back to her feet. "What the hell are you, moping around this place? I'd say you felt the burn of losing your family and don't wanna open up to anyone else, but you haven't even done that!"

Loor didn't look up. She didn't rise. She didn't rage. She didn't fight back. Her head hung limp, her eyes screwed closed as more tears came.

"You know what you did, Loor?"

Lyra's tone had returned to its devious norm, but it held anger. An incredible rage that added a growl to the beast's voice.

"You knew it was coming, but you didn't want to feel it. So you shut yourself up before you could even feel the pain from their deaths. And now you're here. You're an unfeeling walking-dead, responding only with anger. You smiled, yes, at the thought of bringing pain to your fellow man. You want to fight, _so_ badly... but you can't fight something you can't touch."

"Shut up..." Loor sobbed, shaking her head. "Just shut up... leave me alone..."

"You'll never find what you're looking for without my help."

"And what exactly is it that I'm looking for?"

"Look up." Lyra let go of Loor, backing away and looking up herself, as if an example. "Don't tell me what you see."

Loor opened her eyes to find her best doing this, and slowly lifted her chin.

She stared up at the glitter of the stars. As she stared up, she got that feeling that something was still missing. Something was supposed to be there that wasn't.

She then heard Lyra humming. It was a sad, slow, simple tune, and it made Loor snap her a look.

"What are you...?"

Lyra stopped, not looking down. "You forgot about the music, didn't you?"

The beast almost sounded sad.

"Music was always a passionate thing... perhaps that's why I didn't forget." Lyra continued. "It was before I was my own, but I still remember it. You hear music when you look up, and you sing along... but it's gone now, isn't it?"

"I knew something was wrong..." Loor muttered.

"Your emotions. You have to let things out before you can let things in."

"What's to let out?" Loor felt her old aggression returning. "You want me to scream at the social worker that life sucks because a son-of-a-bitch snake killed my parents and then decided I made a good attack dog?"

"Forget about the snake!" Lyra snapped again. "You ran away from the snake to get back to what you thought was safety!"

"I didn't run away!"

Loor couldn't help herself; she leapt at Lyra. The beast was ready for her though. She met Loor and the two locked hands, fighting against each other. Loor didn't think about the fact that she was trying to out-muscle thin air. Lyra seemed so real at the moment, she thought she was facing and fighting her demon.

"What do you want to call it?! Ducking out? Turning tail? You ran away! You knew this was dangerous from the beginning, but you decided to leave because of it! Why? Afraid you'll die? You knew that was going to happen sooner or later!"

"Just shut up, shut up! I didn't run away, and I'm never going to run away again! Not after what happened to my family! I tried to run then, and it didn't help!"

"And it's not helping now!"

"I know! Alright, I know! I know that he probably sent someone after us, I know that it's not safe here, and I know that if I want to stand a chance I have to go back! But I also know that I need to finish my business here!"

Loor dug her heels in, going into a spin and tossing Lyra like doing the hammer throw. Lyra flew, landing hard and rolling in the snow. She didn't turn any of it up, or even leave a print. She didn't react to it, just sitting up and looking at Loor with a slight smile.

"Glad we're at an agreement."

Loor was still tense, but slowly let herself relax. "Right... I'll finish what I need to, and then we'll go back... back to--"

"You're going back home." Lyra stood up, walking up to Loor. "Admit that. You're going back home. Konoha is the place you belong now."

"Yeah... I know. Now the question is just how me and Fury are gonna escape. I mean... we can't just disappear."

"Why not?" Lyra stood close now.

"People... they get curious. Most people are pretty stupid, but never underestimate them in large numbers. They have a gift for figuring things out when they have enough brains working on the same thing."

"You talk like you're not one of them."

Loor looked up at Lyra. "Am I, with you living in me? I created you. Sure, Shukaku brought you to life like the Frankenstein monster, but you... you were me at one point. Doesn't that make me part demon too?"

"At least your imagination."

* * *

"You want to do what?"

"I want to visit the cemetery." Loor was speaking with Fury's mom. It was Sunday, and Loor decided on such a lazy day that it was a good time to do something she should have done when she and Fury arrived.

"I want to visit my family's graves."

"Are you sure?" Fury's mom asked this carefully. She was a person that meant to be mindful of everyone's feelings. She herself was very sensitive, so she and Loor usually didn't get along... but she tried to mother the girl. "I mean..."

"I know." Loor cut her off. "Just... please?"

"Fury's not awake yet. Don't you want her to come with?"

"No." Loor shook her head. "This is best done alone."

Fury's mom took it at that. The car-ride to the cemetery was silent. The two were a truly odd pair, seeing as Loor was heavily out-spoken and brutally honest to her own thoughts, voicing them whenever she saw fit. Fury's mom, on the other hand, was socially reserved and tried not to step on anyone's toes. She kept her thoughts to herself for fear of pissing someone off.

Loor was thankful that Fury had not become a complete clone of her mother.

Loor left the car alone when they arrived. The adult didn't need to come with, Loor wanted to do this alone.

She never thought she'd be doing this. Never. She'd never walked in the Kingston Cemetery before, but the part that unnerved her was the fact that she was looking for gravestones marked with her family's names.

She'd been told where they'd been buried. She knew where to go, but she was looking everywhere because the place was not one she knew. As she looked about she saw the effects of the coming spring. The weekend had continued the trend of warming weather, the snow only present in little patches here and there. Now it was browned grass, slowing greening up with all the water and sunlight.

She was reminded that she'd have to kick Roy's ass soon if this weather continued.

Finally, she found the line of stones she was looking for. There were three. Her parents were buried side by side, sharing a gravestone between them with both of their names on it. At their sides were Paul and Ann, Loor's elder brother and sister.

To see their names, carved in stone, Loor fell to the muddy ground. She knew what she was going to see, but she just couldn't take it. There it was.

Undeniable proof that they were dead. Dead, gone, and in the ground. She felt all sorts of emotions coming up. She was angry, she was sad, and she was lost. She felt vulnerable, like a little kid who got lost in a store. She cried at first, but then she looked up at her parent's gravestone and bellowed. There were no words, she just yelled.

She yelled long. She yelled loud. Her breath was exhausted, and she panted, staring at the gray stone as if something would happen.

_In loving memory. _That's all the epitaph read. There was more to say about them than that. There was more to carve into a stone that would remember them. _In loving memory _didn't tell anyone that they were great parents. _In loving memory_ didn't tell anyone that they were great people. _In loving memory_ didn't tell anyone how much she'd miss them.

She bellowed again, throwing her fists at the ground.

_Why?!_ She screamed in her head. _Why the fuck did this have to happen?! Why my family? Why them? They didn't do anything wrong! I loved them! I needed them! Why did they have to leave?!_

So many questions. So much rage.

So many tears.

It wasn't long before she started questioning the gravestones. She got to her feet, pacing back and forth, spitting out questions. She wanted to know why her parents had to come down and investigate the house when the dog started barking. She demanded to know why her siblings didn't run away when she told them to. She sobbed these questions, again in again, her lungs growing sore from her labored breathing.

She exhausted herself. She didn't feel any better, but the tears eventually stopped. She just stood there, panting, her face swollen and red.

"I love you guys..." She muttered, sniffing. "Is... wasn't that enough to keep you here? Why isn't that enough?"

She bent her head. She wanted a hug. Not just a little hug from a friend. She wanted one of her mom's big bear hugs. She wanted her mom to hold her and tell her it was all going to get better. She wanted her dad to be back at home, cooking dinner for the family to gather around. She wanted her sister to tackle her. She wanted her brother to make stupid jokes.

She wanted them back.

But she wasn't going to get them.

"Everyone dies..." She muttered to herself. "Everyone. I know that... I know..."

She looked up again.

_In loving memory._

"You know me." She felt the corner of her mouth twitch into a smile. "I need direction. I have a plan. I'll... I'll come back sometime, but I have to make things right."

She kissed her hand and placed it on the stones in turn. She walked away.

She smiled.

Fury's mother asked no questions, only asked that Loor took a bath when she got home.

_In loving memory._

* * *

AND THE WORD OF THE DAY IS.... **Epitaph**

It's a poem or caption on a gravestone. Hehe, we had to write 'em in English for a poetry book thingy.

God I am hyper now. I was just like UBER pissed and now I'm all WEE like Gir.

Though I consider myself more of a Gaz type person. Scary gamer younger sister. Yeah... sounds about right.

Heeeeeey... you wonder if Gaz would ever write fanfiction. She is all gamer-like and such.

Okay, I'm going to stop taking now.

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	6. The Lost

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Six-The Lost**

"Whoa, whoa, you're going way too fast here! Back that up and tell me again."

Loor sighed, shaking her head.

It was Sunday night, or Monday morning according to the digital clock in the corner that read '2:41 AM.' Loor had an idea around this time, and she needed to tell Fury. Not like that was a problem, they both stayed up to an ungodly hour watching anime on Cartoon Network with the nighttime programming of Adult Swim.

"I'm ready to go back."

"Yeah, yeah, I got that part." Fury waved her hand, sitting up in her bed on the floor. "Get to the part where you wanna get out of here without leaving suspicions."

"Right." Loor actually smiled at this one. "I want us to fake our own kidnap. Perhaps violently. Leave a little blood, make it look like the house was broken into, and while all the authorities are looking for the kidnapper, we'll be long gone. If we just ran away they'd be all over the possibilities. It's a long shot, but I don't want anyone guessing that our escape was supernatural. If we make it look like someone took us away, it's a simple kidnapping case. Run of the mill. Real."

"Two kids running away isn't real?" Fury questioned, still trying to keep up. Loor was speaking quickly, excitedly. It was the happiest Fury had seen her since coming home.

"It is, but let me ask you; what reason do we have for running away? As far as we know they're a psycho killer out there looking to finish the job. Psychologically it doesn't make sense for us to run away."

"I hate it when you use big words." Fury whined, rubbing her head. "Okay, fine... but now?"

Loor actually barked out a laugh, shaking her head. "No, no, now is no good. I'm thinkin' this Friday."

"Why?"

"Your mom's work schedule. She wakes up to everything, so faking a breaking and entering is no good while she's home. Friday night, she's working, which just leaves your step-dad home, and he sleeps like a log."

"Dead beat step-dad..." Fury snorted. She didn't like her step-dad much more than her real dad. He tended to sleep all day when he wasn't working and didn't do much to help out around the house. "So what do we do after leaving all this fake evidence?"

"They'll pull out tracking dogs when we vanish, probably. We'll give 'em a trail to follow as far as my place. There's water there; that stream that runs through my yard. I know it's cliché, but as far as I know water works pretty well to lose dogs. Once that far, we'll go back."

"Are you sure about this...?" Fury questioned. "I mean, this is a pretty big change from how you were the other day..."

"I got my ass kicked by my own mind." Loor chuckled slightly. "Tends to put your brain in order. I... I also visited my family's graves."

"You talk to them?"

"Yeah... it helped."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep." Fury muttered, laying back in her bed and curling up. "Now I'm gonna be excited about going back to--"

"Home." Loor corrected before she could finish her sentence. "We're going home."

"... you really did get your ass kicked, didn't you? Is she that bad?"

"Fury... you have no idea." Loor laid back on the couch, pulling up her blanket and looking at the TV. "I don't think I'm going to sleep either... I just hope Gaara hasn't skipped town yet."

"I doubt it... and I bet Kiba is out of the hospital now. I wonder how Schizo is doing..."

"Don't worry. We'll know soon."

Friday couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

"Hey, Loor!"

Loor lifted her head slowly when she was called out. With how little sleep she was getting at night, she was dozing through school. Sitting at lunch, she was practically sleep-eating. Still, she responded when someone called her name, slowly looking up...

To see Roy walking up to her lunch table. Fury was at her side, looking at the approaching boy curiously.

"Hey..." Loor yawned. "What's up?"

"Do you sleep through everything?" He questioned, sitting with them without asking. He sat at Loor's side, practically ignoring Fury.

"Uh... excuse me, who are you?" Fury inquired.

Loor busied herself with introductions. "Fury, this is Roy. He keeps me awake during science class. Roy, this is my little sister Fury. Her family took me in."

The two looked each other, gave a nod of acknowledgment, and broke eye contact. Roy went right back to talking to Loor.

"Sounds like they're letting us outside today." He gave with a smirk.

"I heard that." She stretched, slouching back down and continuing to nibble on her lunch.

"Did you forget about our deal?"

"No."

"What deal?" Fury was obviously confused.

"Kid challenged me to a fight." Loor said casually. "I win, he leaves me the hell alone. He wins, he gets to take me on a date and flirt with me."

"Huh?!" Fury switched into panic mode. "Loor, you can't go fighting! The social worker will have you at a new house so fast it'll make your head spin!"

"Not fist fighting." Roy clarified. "I'm thinking it'll be as simple as who can wrestle who to the ground first. Hopefully that won't get her into too much trouble."

"If she gets into any trouble she'll get moved somewhere else." Fury said with horror. "The social worker already thinks my family isn't the best thing for her, and her schoolwork sucks. All it takes is one more thing to tip the scale."

Loor sighed, glaring at her sister. "You take the fun out of everything."

"Loor..." Fury pleaded, lowering her voice so Roy wouldn't hear what she said. "This isn't Konoha. You can't just fight people and not get in trouble. Shinobi or not, put it on ice till we get back."

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Loor growled, a little too loudly. "Forfeit?"

"Hm?" Roy seemed very curious. "Something wrong?"

Fury and Loor glared at each other for a second more before Loor looked back at Roy.

"I can't." She finally gave with a sigh, sounding disappointed. "If I get in trouble... me and Fury will get separated."

Roy stared at her for a moment, and then broke into a huge smile. "That means I win."

"Huh?"

"You backed out." He chuckled, smirking. "That means I win automatically."

"It was a technicality!" She crowed at him. "It means the whole thing is off!"

He didn't even flinch, leaning back in his chair. "What's so bad about me, huh? C'mon, one night with me, and I'll leave you alone. Just one night." He looked over at Fury. "She can spend the night at my place, right?"

"Spend the night...?" Fury raised her brow. "I think so. My mom was never too strict about that."

"Perfect." He stood up to leave the table. "We can fight at my place then... I don't think your social worker will mind as long as they don't know."

"I'll try not to leave too many marks." She snarled at him.

"Awe," He took a teasing tone. "but that's the fun part; leaving marks. Tonight, if that's alright."

"You'll have to ask my mom." Fury offered. "She picks us up after school."

"Sounds good. I'll meet up with you two, and if everything works out I'll just bring Loor home with me. I hope you don't mind walking."

"Not at all." Loor answered, munching again.

He smiled, turning and walking away, waving over his shoulder.

"What was that all about?" Fury questioned out loud.

"I don't know... but I'm tempted to go on a killing spree on Friday when it doesn't matter anymore. Kid's been asking questions since we got here. Treats me like I'm the most interesting person in the world."

"Maybe you are to him."

"You think he has a crush on me?"

"It's kinda obvious."

"Yeah, well, I'm taken." Loor snorted, shaking her head. "Son of a bitch..."

"It's a good thing you didn't fight him." Fury muttered, dropping her tone for fear of the gossip girls two tables over. "I mean... with Lyra and all. She'd protect you."

"Huh... didn't think about that." Loor shrugged. "Thanks. If anyone around here had seen the sand in action... I don't think we'd ever get away."

* * *

Loor found herself walking home with Roy.

Fury's mother had no problem with letting Loor spend the night with the boy, and had actually offered to give them a ride to wherever his place was. Still, he insisted on walking seeing that the weather was so nice. Spring was officially early, a high of fifty degrees banishing the last of the snow that morning.

Loor had given her necklace with the bottle of sand hanging off it to Fury. Her excuse at the time was that the string was itching her, but the truth was that if Roy wanted to fight she didn't want him to know about the sand.

No... she couldn't allow that. She was too close to going back for it all to be ruined.

The walk was a long one. Roy explained that he lived on the outskirts of town, in the boonies. Not like Loor minded. If she hadn't been hiding the fact that she had shinobi training, she would have been able to get to the boonies in under ten minutes.

But the walk was a lot longer than that. If Loor were to guess, it took an hour for them to walk from Kingston Middle School to where they were going. Roy flirted and talked the whole way... and Loor eventually found herself playing along. She had agreed to this, in a way, and it didn't really matter in the end. So what if she started a relationship with this kid? She'd be gone within the week.

So yes. She talked, and flirted.

That is, until they got close to their destination.

They were out of the main town, and Loor knew the road. "Hey... we keep walking this way and we'll pass my old house."

"Really?" He questioned, sounding surprised.

"Yeah." She pointed. They were walking along a county road, and the houses were few and far between. Several yards ahead, she pointed at a dirt driveway that led back behind tree cover. "That leads to my old place."

"You wanna take a detour and show me around?" He asked, sounding slightly unsure. "I mean, I get it if you don't want to, but--"

"Be quiet for once." She chuckled. "And follow me."

When they came upon the driveway, they turned down it. It was a quarter mile long, and Roy started jogging once they started on it. Loor kept up with him with ease, not letting it turn into a race.

The driveway split, and she led him to the house on the left. It was her house, but it didn't look quite as depressing now that spring had arrived. She showed him around the main yard, but not the inside because of the bank lock on the front door.

Finally, after the tour, they stood at the back of the house. Loor stared at the decks, and frowned.

The happy energy faded away.

"This is where it happened, isn't it?" Roy asked.

She nodded, pointing to the path that led to the back areas of the yard, beyond the swamp. "Fury and I were sparing back there... when we came back to the house--"

He cut her off. "Take me there. Walk me through it. I... I want to know what it was like for you."

"To see if I really know how you feel about your parents being gone?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah... and to understand."

She nodded, doing as he asked. She led the way to the back areas, and eventually came to stand where she stood whenever she and Fury sparred.

"This was where we usually practiced." She muttered. "And the night it happened was the night before my birthday." She glanced around. Sunset was coming. This place would soon look the way it did that night. "I remember, it was a full moon. The middle of the night. I won, as usual."

"She not as strong as you?" He asked.

"She was my student. I'd been training longer than her." She walked from the open grass to the trees. "The fight ended here, and we started back towards the house. It was just like any other night. Nothing strange... but..." She had started walking.

She became dazed. She was following her old footsteps, her old memories. It came back with startling clarity. She didn't notice that Roy was following her.

"We were talking about school, and boys, and how much it all sucked. Fury was mad about still being single..."

She remembered looking up. She remembered how relaxed she had felt. How happy she'd been.

How foolish.

They were crossing the bridge her family had gotten built over the stream in the yard, cutting through the untamed part of the yard towards Loor's window on the side of the house.

"We were going to go back inside, and go to bed, but I felt strange. I knew something was wrong. If we had gone in... we probably would have been dead too. But I went around the house to investigate. Fury came with me."

She followed her words, turning the corner of the house and walking up the deck steps.

"The dog was barking... but he suddenly stopped. All the lights were off... I was watching. I was so scared, but so curious. Then the lights came on. Mom turned them on, to see what was going on. And when she did... there _he_ was, with his partner... the dog was dead. Sliced in half. Mom came down to stop him, and so did Dad."

"And he killed them at the same time, with one swipe." Roy said.

She looked at him, coming back to earth with a shock. "Y-yeah..." She nodded, getting up on the deck and looking at the glass door. It was new. The old one had probably been taken as evidence, covered in blood. "Beyond that... I know I was knocked off the deck. Everything had gone dark. I yelled for Fury to run, and then my brother and sister came out. They didn't stand a chance..."

"Did he come after you?"

She looked at him again. "Yeah... but I fainted. I don't remember anything else."

There was silence for a few moments.

"That's a lie." He stated.

She looked at him, startled. "Huh?"

"You were saved." He corrected. "You woke up in a hospital, but not any hospital you knew."

She suddenly felt warm. Her whole body flushed with blood, and adrenaline. She stared as he reached down and pulled off his T-shirt and long sleeved shirt combo. It came away to show he was wearing one last layer under it all. He wore a dark green sleeveless shirt, and had wide black bands on his arms that looked like rubber. She stared at him as his eyes changed from brown to an unearthly shade of yellow.

But the illusion was far more than that. The kid had a headband on all of the sudden. It had appeared while he was taking his over shirts off. If Look had looked around she would have noticed that those shirts were nowhere to be found. They were just another part of the illusion.

His headband addressed him as a shinobi.

A Sound village shinobi.

"My name is Rishu." He stated as the illusion dropped completely. It had been a genjutsu of some type, or some low level of transformation. His pants were actually black, loose fitting, and he had a weapons pouch around his leg. More than that, he had twin katanas belted around his hips.

Loor stared at him, but her brain didn't jam for long.

"Orochimaru sent you to finish the job?" She questioned, tensing. She wished she had Ryu, but that couldn't be helped. She also wished she had been more paranoid. She knew Orochimaru would probably send someone after them, why hadn't she suspected the new kid?

She should have, but she didn't. Now she feared she'd pay for it.

"Finish the job?" He sighed, shaking his head. He lifted a hand to the bottom hem of his shirt, lifting it a few inches.

There, on his side, was a curse mark. It was a strange shape, like a twisted heart. She realized that he showed it as a threat; as if to say 'don't run away, or I might have to hurt you.' "My master does not kill the ones he favors." He then glared at her. His yellow eyes flashed. "But I had half a mind to kill you regardless of his wishes."

"Had?" She took a step away from where the stairs were, putting her back to the railing. She needn't fall down the stairs if this got ugly.

He closed his eyes. He put his hands on his hips, resting on the hilts of his weapons. "Do the names Isaki and Ryoshi mean anything to you?"

She shook her head. "No. Nothing. Why?"

"They were my parents." He dropped his shirt hem and lifted his hand to his neck. He still wore the necklace with the two gold rings. "These are their wedding bands. A little something I got back, along with their headbands, when they died. When Orochimaru-sama aimed to invade the Leaf village, he aimed to use a _biju_ to help him do it. There was no problem at the beginning. The demon ridden boy was blood-thirsty, crazy. He agreed to our plan in a heartbeat. But then there was a girl."

"Me." Loor concluded. "And he wasn't so willing to kill anymore because I told him it was wrong."

"Yes. You were the challenge that existed that had my parents dispatched. Had you not existed... they would have never been sent out, and they never would have died."

"Wait..." Loor blinked. "You're talking about the two Sound shinobi that kidnapped me and Lee and impersonated us to fire Gaara up into an insane frenzy? That was them? Right before the chunnin finals?"

"Yes." Rishu winced. "And I blamed you. I had no idea who you were, but I found you responsible. I wanted to track you down and kill you... but then we talked the other day..."

"And I made you doubt yourself."

"Yes." He shook his head. "And very well saved your own life."

"I seem to be getting good at that." She sounded sarcastic.

He nodded. "And now it is time for you to save mine."

She cocked her head to the side. "Eh?"

"Orochimaru sent me to make you more powerful. That curse on your neck... it's currently level one. I'm here to force it into level two."

"Uh... huh..." Loor was growing skeptic. "And what exactly does that mean? You're gonna do to me what they did to Sasuke?"

"Sasuke is a different case. He is a tool. You are a warrior, as is your sister, though I am not here for her."

"How come?"

"Kabuto wanted to do it personally."

Loor shivered. It felt like a kidnapping threat. "And what if I were to... say, not do it and make you go home unsuccessful?"

"I would be killed upon my arrival in the Sound village." He drew his weapons, crouching into a fighting stance. "Please, Loor. I have everything here to make this safe for you. Do not make me risk your life and mine to restrain you."

"Here?"

"I've been living in the basement of this house since I arrived. Everything is prepared."

"How did you get in?"

"It does not take a shinobi to pick a lock."

There was a long pause. She stared at him. She didn't weigh what her chances would be in a fight, but instead she studied him.

"Did you cry?" She asked. "When you found out that they were dead, did you cry?"

"They were honored as heroes." He said this while watching her warily. He was looking for tricks, but she had none. "Why would I cry?"

"They're your parents."

"I was adopted."

"They still raised you." She had the sheer gall to put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at him. "If it pissed you off enough to want to kill me, you were probably sad enough to cry."

He didn't relax out of his fighting stance. "Shinobi rule. Never show emotion. No matter how much you hurt... you can't let it out." He narrowed his eyes at her. "You wear the headband of Konoha... If you're shinobi, you're not allowed to cry anymore."

"It's an honorary thing." She shrugged. "Never went through all the schooling."

"It doesn't matter. You wear the headband, you are responsible for the rules."

She gave him a look, and then shook her head. She walked up to him, holding her hands out to show they were empty. Finally, he relaxed and put his swords away.

"You seem to be all about responsibility..." She chuckled ruefully. "But let's cut the crap and get down to brass tacks here. Orochimaru wants to give me more power? Fine."

"You're going willingly?" He seemed surprised.

"I don't need your death on my hands." She smirked. "If I had run into the swamp, you would have never caught me."

* * *

Yeah, I know, a little anti-climatic, but I really didn't wanna write a fight scene of Rishu vs. Loor just yet.

Not yet. XP

**No ownage,**

-Loor


	7. Nail, Knife, and Needle

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Seven-Nail, Knife, and Needle**

Loor couldn't believe she was being led into her own house. Well, it wasn't her house anymore, but it still felt like it was hers. Once inside, Rishu led the way to the lower level. On the stairs, he asked a question.

"Did you cry?"

"Not at first." She answered, shrugging as he came to the lower level and turned to open a door and enter the stairwell to the lowest level; the basement. "It took me a few days before I'd even think about the reason I wasn't home anymore. After that... I was just angry, not sad. Then I came here. Seeing their graves... I lost it."

He didn't say anything to that, stopping at the base of the stairs. The lowest level had been used for storage before, but it was empty now aside from the water heater, water softener, and stuff like that.

That, and the things that Rishu had brought in.

Rishu's things were scattered on the hard cement floor. There was a bedroll in the corner, but aside from that it was all business. There were scrolls scattered around, along with brushes, ink bottles, blank jutsu tags, and other tags that had been ripped up because they weren't done well. There were several that had been stacked up, probably the good ones. All of this was scattered around a large barrel with its lid laying next to it.

A barrel. Loor remembered Fury telling her about the barrel Sasuke had been put in when this happened to him. Of course, it had taken four of Orochimaru's top ninjas to seal that thing up, but Loor felt chakra everywhere on this level. Rishu had been preparing for this for quite a while so that when it actually happened he could do the sealing on his own.

"It took a month." He said as if reading her mind. "But I do believe this will be safe."

"How the hell do you hide all this from the Realtors?"

"When people come to see the house, I use a genjutsu on them that makes everything look normal."

He sounded kinda proud of himself.

She walked past him to look at all the scrolls and such around the barrel. It was a lot of work, or so it looked like. Everything had the feel of energy attached to it, stored up in the jutsu tags.

"Please," he walked up behind her. "Climb in the barrel."

She glanced at him, and shrugged. Too late to back out. She did was she was told, and he pulled something out from his weapon's pouch. It was a bottle of little black pills. He held it out for her.

"Take one." He said. "And I will handle the rest."

"What's gonna happen?" She inquired, taking the bottle from him and getting one pill out of it, handing the bottle back. "What will it do to me?"

"It's a mind drug that Orochimaru developed." Rishu explained. "It will force the curse mark into level two, and you into state two in turn. When the curse is activated, it eats at your body. In state two, this happens a lot faster than it does in state one. Forcing you into state two would kill you in a few moments."

"Which is what the barrel and the sealing jutsus are for, right?"

He nodded. "Correct. It allows you to ride out the effects in an apparent death, not an eternal one."

She blinked. "You lost me."

"To gain power... you have to die." He offered a smile. "Don't worry, I've been through this. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I'm not scared!" She snapped. "Are you saying you're dead?!"

"I'm saying I died, but that's what the jutsus are for."

She glanced down at the black pill in her hand. "Orochimaru is a sick son of a bitch."

"No, this is the only way to do this. He's a genius for finding it."

She felt her brow furrowing, but decided not to get into an argument about Orochimaru with a Sound nin. She really didn't want to know how a whole village could accept that monster.

"Alright, alright... let's get this over with."

He nodded, taking a step back.

She closed her eyes, and took the pill.

She wasn't sure what she expected to happen after she swallowed. She just sat down in the barrel, and Rishu slipped the lid onto it. Two seconds later, her hands flew to her throat.

It burned like acid! She was coughing, but there was more than that. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, like when Orochimaru first bit her oh so long ago. As much as she tried to control, she felt her curse mark activating in reaction with the drug... but that just made the burning worse!

She curled up on the bottom of the barrel, kicking out and hacking as if her organs were going to come out of her mouth.

Then... her struggles died down.

She passed out, and the change began.

* * *

Rishu cleaned up after he finished sealing Loor in the barrel. His job was done. All he had to do was wait for her to come out of the barrel and he would go home. He set to the task of leaving no trace of being in the house, picking all his scrolls up, taking his ink bottles, rolling up his bed roll, and tucking it all into a pack he had hidden on one of the empty shelves.

After he finished his pack, he set to a different task.

He had to get the barrel outside.

He knew what happened when a person came out of the barrel. He had done it too. The barrel would practically explode, and the person who had been inside would be high on their own new power.

When that happened, it was a good time to be somewhere else. He would stay long enough to see her emerge safely, and then get the hell out.

He didn't want to fight Orochimaru's new female favorite. If he harmed her he was likely to get killed when he returned home, regardless to the mission's success.

Moving the barrel wasn't that hard. Loor didn't weigh too much, and the sliding back door was plenty wide to get out. The only fear was dropping the barrel and it cracking open. If it did, Loor was dead. Thankfully, that didn't happen. He got it outside and locked the house back up, sure he hadn't left anything behind.

He wasn't sure where to take the barrel after that, but knew he had to take it away from the house. If she damaged the house there were going to be people who would want to know what happened. In his short time in Kingston he had noticed that the authorities were always around in specially colored vehicles. It was as if the whole area was paranoid about something terrible happening all of the time.

He wondered how anyone lived around here, fearing authority all of the time. People weren't even allowed to fight. How were they supposed to settle disputes?

He stopped thinking about how strange this world was and picked the barrel up again, deciding to take it to where Loor showed him before; her sparring grounds.

He smirked lightly when he realized that Loor must have been a very strange person to her world. She seemed to like to fight in a culture that frowned upon it. She had sparring grounds, and had trained enough on her own for shinobi training to take at her late age. People must have viewed her as insane, or at least bloodthirsty.

She would make a great shinobi if she returned to the other world. Even Rishu could see that. Her sister had some of that potential, but she didn't show the killer instinct.

He stopped where Loor had stood before, looking around. It was a wide open space, which was perfect. He put the barrel down and marched towards the tree line. The sparring grounds were surrounded by trees; pine on one side and birch on the other. He went towards the pine, knowing that the birch trees grew from the swamp. He planned to get some sleep, and he didn't need to be too terribly damp in the morning.

He turned back to look at the barrel, taking his pack off and leaning it against the trunk of a tree. Letting himself to the ground, he could still see the barrel, but he would hope nothing could see him because of the shadows the trees created.

He bent his head for a moment to pray for luck, and then let himself sleep.

* * *

Pain.

Pain results from the over-exposure of nerves. It's the sensation the body sends back to the brain when something is wrong. It's what a person feels when something is bothering them, be it emotionally or physically. Technically, everything is pain in different measures. Even the sensation of being ticklish is just sensitive underexposed nerves detecting an extremely low level of pain.

Pain is everything.

And in Loor's world, everything was pain.

She felt as if someone had cut her skin away from her body and tried to sew someone else's on. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't really care. She wanted to get away from the knife, get away from the needle, that she felt was altering her.

She felt altered. She felt changed.

She wanted to get away from that feeling.

So she searched for her body, but she couldn't get any control out of her mass of pain. She knew everything hurt, but she couldn't figure out the difference between her fingers and her toes. Maybe she wasn't a body anymore, just a jellied mass on the bottom of the world.

She couldn't even find her mouth to scream.

The knife and the needle. Cutting her, sewing her back together. That's what she felt. She could almost see the hands that held them, doing what they wished with her. Change this, remove that, to a new image she didn't want.

_No more... no more..._

There were new parts of her. New pieces. New colors. What were they doing to her? How could they do this to her? They had no right. The right to create and the right to change was truly God's alone, was it not? Who had the right to this needle and this knife?

Who had the right to change her?

The knife and the needle. The needle and the knife. There was more than they could do. New bits. Hard bits. Nailed on, melted into her structure, making her different.

This wasn't here. This couldn't be her.

Eventually, it stopped. Not at her order. They finished their work before they let her be. She was sure she was nothing but a heap of muscle and bone in a package that wasn't hers. But they were gone, and that was what was important to her at the moment.

Nail, knife, and needle; they were gone.

She didn't want to move. She feared that she wasn't at all set correctly in this new skin sack. She feared moving would bring them back to fix mistakes. But still, the pain faded. She knew what was an arm and what was a leg, and where her face was in the mix.

She licked her lips, and found fangs. She flexed her hands and feet, and found claws. She curled up and felt herself covered... by herself.

There were new parts. New pieces.

There were wings.

New colors, new parts, new pieces.

Not her. Not her at all.

She felt weak. She felt like this new skin was eating her, wearing her away. Not painfully, just pulling bits away like water carries sand downstream. She was fading, and going cold.

This new body... was killing her. She tried to pick herself up, but found herself feeble.

The world was freezing her.

She was ice.

She was dead.

And then she wasn't.

From ice, there was a flame.

From cold, there was heat.

There was a huge flare that seemed to awake her from the inside. One second she was dead, and the very next she found herself very alive, kicking to be free of a confine. She stretched and turned like a child still in the womb, finding a closed space all around her. Every muscle stretched, every part flexed, and she found herself trapped.

She was too big for this space. A second flare came up, and she struck at her prison with aggression. There was more than her in this tank, there was something that made her body stronger by the moment. It was a vat of power that she was adsorbing like a sponge. It came to her, powered her, and aggravated her.

Ah, but the wings, the wings! They had no muscles, but they were growing. They had no bones, but they were forming. A third flare brought new muscles to flex, new bones to slam against the sides of her prison, her tomb, her womb. It was all of these. It trapped her, killed her, and nourished her. She grew in it, but she felt herself quickly growing out of it.

At the forth flare, everything grew solid. Bones, claws, fangs, muscles, all found themselves perfected.

The final flare burst her prison open.

All of the work of the nails, knife, and needle, faded away when her prison was obliterated, but she instinctually knew where it was. She knew how to get to it. She knew that the power was still there.

She knew that she had been changed.

Altered.

Born anew.

She came to her feet and opened her eyes.

She was at the sparring grounds. How had she gotten there? She didn't know, nor did she care. She was looking for something, hunting for something.

She felt eyes on her, and looked over.

Trees. The pines. She felt someone watching, and then the warm feeling of chakra being used. In her current state, it was more hot than it was warm. Everything was more intense.

She dove forward, hand out, but landed against the tree where he had been standing.

Rishu had left just in time to avoid getting killed.

* * *

It was four AM.

Fury was up later than usual. She blamed it on the excitement of being a day closer to going home, but the truth was that she didn't trust that Roy kid. She had weird vibes going on that kept her good and paranoid, worrying about Loor. Of course, a worried person isn't a very sleepy one. She had been sitting in her bed, watching anime all night and trying to get her mind off of it.

But her mind wouldn't come off of it. By the time Inuyasha, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost In The Shell, and Full Metal Alchemist had played and replayed after midnight, and the extra shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Super Milk-Chan started playing, Fury had just grown more paranoid and somewhat neurotic thanks to sleep deprivation.

Two more hours and the little kid cartoons would start playing in the morning line-up.

It was at this time that Fury heard a knock on the window over the love seat. With a yelp she looked up, almost pissing herself when she saw a face on the other side of the glass.

It didn't do much more for her when she recognized it as Loor. She was out of her bed and over to the sliding door on the back side of the house before someone could count from one to two. She opened the door and waved Loor inside, who quickly entered.

The girl looked like crap... and better than ever at the same time. The look on her face said she was coming off an anger high, but at the same time she looked like she had all sorts of energy. It was a strange mix. She stood just inside the house as Fury shut and locked the door behind her.

"What happened?" Fury questioned, grabbing Loor by the hand and leading her back down to where they slept.

"Roy..." She paused as they descended the stairs. Fury went back to her bed, and Loor slowly crawled onto the couch as if she was dazed. "Roy isn't who we thought he was."

Fury just stared at Loor, almost squealing with want to know.

"He's a ninja. Orochimaru's. He... he got me."

Fury just about fainted. "Got you??"

"The... the barrel..." Loor laid back on her pillow. "His name is Rishu... he got away."

Loor was fragmented, that much was obvious. Fury was almost afraid to press further.

"We'll talk in the morning." She said, reaching for the remote to turn off the TV.

"Leave it on." Loor commanded. "I'm not going to sleep."

Fury bit her lip, looking at her big sister with worry. After a moment she nodded and laid back in her own bed.

"He didn't hurt you?" Fury had to ask.

"No." Loor rolled to her side to watch Super Milk-Chan. "Not a scratch."

* * *

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Now that this story arc has come to a point... let's get it over with! -dances- Sorry, I really loved doing this one. The while thing with the barrel came out of nowhere, cause in the anime they never talk about how it feels. Ever. We know evil energies were involved, but I had fun imagining what it was like to be the person that was in the barrel.

I hate needles though. Gross.

**No ownage! Just hyper-ness! **

-Loor


	8. Paws In The Sand

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Eight-Paws In The Sand**

Explaining why Loor was back home to Fury's mom was tricky for Fury. She wasn't a deceiver like Loor, and Loor was sound asleep despite her earlier proclamation that she wasn't going to sleep. Still, she eventually came up with a story about Loor not feeling well and having Roy's mom drive her home, pinning Loor at arriving back home some time around midnight.

Fury's mom bought it, since Fury wasn't the deceiving type.

Fury woke Loor up, and they went to school like all was normal. But Fury could sense it. All was not normal. Something had changed in Loor, something scary. Still, Loor could not be questioned. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

But Fury was so worried. She watched Loor as she was walking dead, the two arriving at school and going to their morning hang out. Loor sat against the wall, closing her eyes and putting her head on her chest.

"Loor?" Fury asked, not being able to stand it.

"Hmm..?"

"What happened?"

There was a long pause. Fury feared that Loor had dozed off. Still, the girl waited. Eventually Loor yawned, taking a quick breath after to talk.

"He led me home. He wanted to know... know how it happened. I told him. And then he revealed himself for who he was and told me what he was sent to do. I decided to cooperate."

"Why?!" Fury cried in dismay.

"He would have been killed if he went home unsuccessful. Technically, I already have his parents' blood on my hands. I didn't need the whole family's."

"His parents'...?"

"He blamed me... they were the ones that kidnapped and impersonated Lee and I. Gaara killed them, but Roy..." She broke off, breathing deeply. "Rishu blamed me. I managed to change his mind... I saved my life, and his, by cooperating."

"So... the barrel... what's it like to... y'know?"

"Like plastic surgery when you're fully awake... on the whole body." She spoke with pain and hate in her voice. "Like someone decided to change everything about you... and then let you bleed to death. After that, I don't really remember. I was by a tree when my memory came back in... and I decided to go back to your place."

"Wow..."

Wow was certainly right.

* * *

Loor had skipped gym class. Instead she went to the nurses office and pleaded exhaustion. Thankfully the nurse knew Loor and felt sorry enough for her to give her one of the beds in the office and let her sleep a period away. Of course, that left Fury to go to gym on her own.

And gym was being held outside, thanks to the early melt.

Fury hated outdoor gym before, but now she found herself enjoying it. She just had to keep herself from inadvertently dashing while playing soccer with the others. If everyone saw her suddenly vanish and then appear right by the ball, someone would have yelped at her.

She was just happy that she wasn't stuck as goalie for the first time in her life.

So gym didn't suck. Fury was getting switched around as the other kids realized that she was actually pretty quick, though she still sucked at kicking the ball. More often than not, her foot missed. That didn't matter though, it made her as clumsy as the rest of the normal people on the field. It was only the jocks who hit it every time they tried.

Still, there was one thing that was going to end the soccer game for Fury.

She heard it first, but it fell on deaf ears. She knew this sound so well, it just... fell through. She kept playing, but when other kids stopped and looked over, she had to stop and look herself.

"Who's puppy is that?"

"Why is there a dog here?"

"Awe, its so cute!"

"Schizo!!" Fury yelled in surprise.

Nothing made sense. Fury was staring at her puppy, sitting on the edge of the field. Schizo was a bit smaller than her big brother Akamaru, and her ears pointed up instead of flopping down. She had cream colored fur with a brown blotch on her head. Her ears were also tipped in brown, and her paws were brown like she was wearing socks.

Schizo reacted when her name was called, running on to the soccer field and jumping up for Fury to catch her. Fury barely did, still shocked. How could this be? Schizo couldn't have gotten there on her own...

But someone could have brought her.

"Is this your dog?" One of the teachers asked, having jogged up to Fury to get the rest of the class away from the puppy. Everyone wanted to pet it.

"Um..." Fury froze up, looking up at her teacher. "No. I know who's it is though. They live in the housing development over there." Fury pointed in the direction of the housing development that was right next to the school. "Can I please take her back? She's just a puppy. Someone probably let her out of the house and is looking for her."

The teacher frowned. It was against school rules for kids to leave the premise...

"Absolutely not." The teacher shook her head. "She'll wander home."

"Oh..." Fury did her best to look sad and pathetic. "Okay..."

The teacher didn't budge.

Fury walked to the edge of the field and put Schizo down. She was thankful that the teacher kept the kids from following her, directing everyone to go back to the game.

"Schizo..." she muttered, looking around. "I can't leave right now."

The puppy had turned to look at her owner, whining and dropping her ears, pulling off the puppy look wonderfully.

"No." She paused. "Did Kiba bring you here?"

Schizo yipped, her ears perking right back up. Fury took that for a yes.

"Go back to him. I'll meet him out here when school is over. Make sure you aren't seen." She glanced back to the class. "Now go!"

She gave the dog a shove, and the puppy whined for a few moments more before reluctantly leaving.

Fury sighed, shaking her head and slowly walking back to the field. She didn't want to play anymore.

Kiba had come to get them... probably with a rescue party.

* * *

Loor was sleeping in science class. Now that Roy, no, Rishu wasn't there to keep her awake anymore, she could lean her chair against the back counter and snooze the period away. The nurse had forgotten to wake her up for her lunch period, so Loor was not only sleepy but hungry.

All in all... it was a shitty day, and she just wanted it to be over.

And so she slept. It was the fastest way she knew to get rid of a day she was finished with.

But the day wasn't finished with her.

"Hey, weirdo!"

That was Loor's cue during work time to try and look really asleep instead of just dozing. She didn't react to the voice calling her out, but it would seem people had no shortage of persistence when they wanted to be annoying.

"C'mon, scarface, I'm talking to you!"

Couldn't they just go away?

Loor reminded herself that it was Tuesday. In a few days, she'd never have to deal with this people again. So, with that thought, she cracked an eye open to see three girls leaning over her table as if it were a fence a the zoo, and they were all trying to get a look at the man-eating tiger.

"Yessum?" Loor questioned groggily.

"Where's your boyfriend?" The girl in the middle asked. Why was the ring leader always in the middle?

"Not my boyfriend." Loor then shrugged. "And he's gone. So what?"

"So you're the only one who talks to him, and he's gorgeous! How could you not go out with him?"

"I'm taken." She yawned, closing her eyes again. Screw the fact that she'd be gone soon. She was so tired of them. "And he's never talked to any of you?"

"Nope..." A different voice answered. Loor assumed one of the side girls had started talking. "He always blew us off. He's been watching you since you got back. Oh, my God! Was he stalking you??"

"I would have killed him if he was."

Loor could almost sense the three girls looking at the empty chair. A few seconds later they bustled away, back to the safety of the knot in the front of the room.

Loor was happy that her hostile reputation was enough to keep most people away. Too bad that her temper wasn't all that impressive back in Konoha. She wasn't the only one with a chip on their shoulder back there... plus everyone had the goods to back it up.

Some more than others.

She sighed, sinking back into her half-awake stupor.

A second later, she felt something on her leg. She tried not to react at once, thinking it as just an itch and it would go away. But it didn't. It was a grainy feel against her leg that started just above her sock. The longer she tried to analyze it, the further up her leg it went. If she wasn't mistaken, it had made a circle around her leg.

A second later, there was a gentle but unmistakable tug.

Her chair slammed back to four feet on the floor as she sat up, looking around on full alert. Her eyes jumped around the room.

The grainy feeling was still there. Like...

Like sand.

The kids at the front of the room were laughing at her frantic scan of the room, but she didn't care about that now. She stopped looking around.

She looked down.

Sand. A thin trail of sand on the floor that led to the emergency exit at the back of the room, snaking under it.

She knew who was out there when she felt another tug. She got up, going to the windows and looking outside. The sand retreated. Loor was sure she was the only one who saw it retract right out from under the door.

Outside, she saw someone in the woods that surrounded the school. He was far away, but not so far as Loor couldn't see him between the trees.

All she needed to see was his blood red hair.

"Gaara..." She muttered.

_What the hell are you doing here?_

She was suddenly too wound up to sleep. She shouldered her pack, waiting for the bell to ring, but the end of the hour was taking an age to come. People didn't notice her, pacing at the back door of the room. Of course no one noticed. She'd already shown hostility once that day, they knew not to mess with her for the rest of it.

She kept glancing at the clock, treading back and forth like an agitated cat.

Two-fifty-five. School let out at three. Five minutes.

Minutes felt like eons. Loor grew more aggravated and excited by the second.

Two-fifty-seven.

Kids started cleaning up. Loor managed to stop pacing and put her chair on her table, along with Rishu's since he obviously wasn't present. She stood by her table, bouncing, feeling like she was on three cups of coffee.

Two-fifty-eight.

Her mind turned down a different road though. He had come after her. How had he gotten the jutsu? He couldn't have just asked for it, Kakashi would never just hand something over like that. He couldn't have stolen it, he wouldn't know where it was kept... plus it would kinda ruin his stay in Konoha if he started stealing from the village he was trying to get to trust him.

She became less excited and more irritated. However he had found out how to get to her home, he had come with something of a mindset to rescue her, she was sure. He was here to save her from herself, or something like that. Perhaps the shinobi world didn't have knights in shining armor, but she was sure he was picturing himself something of the equivalent.

She felt her need to kill him, but it was quickly replaced with a new shot of excitement that she was going to see him as the bell rang.

She had missed him, dearly. She didn't care who saw her after the bell went off. She turned and scrammed out the back door, taking a full run to where she'd seen him.

She put the brakes on where the land sloped down and the tree line started.

She didn't see him.

"Gaara?" she questioned.

She almost wondered if she had been seeing things.

"Nice to see you, Blondie."

Loor suddenly turned, startled. Behind her was...

"Scruffy!" Loor yelped as she saw Kiba. The dog boy was grinning, Akamaru sitting on his head. "God, I never thought I'd be happy to see you. Where's Gaara?"

"Down there, staying out of sight." Kiba pointed into the woods. "C'mon, we'll meet up with him. Fury will join us soon."

"How is she going to find her way...?" Loor questioned as Kiba led the way. Loor knew the school's woods, but Kiba knew where Gaara was hiding.

"Schizo is waiting for her. As long as no one tries to pick her up and run with her, Fury should be down here soon without attracting too much notice." He glanced at Loor. "These people seem to love animals that just happen by. What's with that?"

"They don't see a lot of wild dogs, or cats. If someone sees a stray, they usually wanna take it in."

"Well that's the first good thing I've heard about this place." He grumbled. "You're all lunatics. Whats with this punishing kids for fighting during lunch? What else are you supposed to do during lunch?"

"Eat?" Loor asked dryly.

"Well, duh. I mean for entertainment."

"Kids play games."

"Like... they wrestle and stuff?"

"No. They play games that have no physical contact. Like basketball."

"What?? How is that supposed to be any fun?"

"I don't get it either, if that helps." She shrugged, sighing. "So what the hell are you guys doing here?"

"Bringing you guys home!" Kiba snapped. "There's nothing here for you, and Konoha caught wind of one of Orochimaru's people in the village recently. The snake can't be up to any good... and Gaara and I were already planning to come and get you two."

"Funny..." Loor chuckled. "We were planning to come home in a few days."

Kiba stopped in his tracks. Akamaru yelped, nearly falling off of his owner's head because of the sudden stop. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Loor snorted. "No need for rescue. Now then, let's move, shall we?"

Kiba blinked at her before nodding and moving along. After a few more yards they came upon one of the many bodies of water that appeared in the thicket right after the melt. Next to this little body of water... was Gaara.

The red headed sand nin looked up at Loor, and dared to crack a smile.

She didn't smile back. She gave him a hard look. Kiba glanced between the two and grew nervous.

"Uh... I'm gonna... go find Fury to make sure she's not lost."

"You do that." Loor said with no emotion.

Kiba ran off.

Gaara was still smiling.

"You son of a..." She snarled, walking a few brisk steps to stand over him. "You really thought I needed rescuing?"

He didn't look up at her. He slowly got to his feet instead to look her in the eye. "Rescue is one word... but I wouldn't use it."

"Then what the hell is this? An intervention?"

He shrugged. It was a simple, helpless, movement, but it caused Loor to cool her jets. She came out of her bristled stance, sighing.

"I'm sorry... I... I wanted to see you too." She finally returned his smile. "But you didn't have to come. We were coming back in a few days on our own."

"We want you to come back now." He said, dropping his smile and becoming very serious. "One of Oro--"

"I know." She cut him off. "He already hightailed it home. But... he got to me first."

His gaze asked the question.

"Don't worry. He didn't hurt me. He was just... angry. Misguided." She paused. "You killed his parents, and he blamed me. But I talked him out of it."

He nodded, not asking questions. She was safe, and that was all that mattered to him.

A few moments later, Fury and Kiba entered the clearing. Fury looked all sorts of over-the-moon excited.

"Loor, I know we had plans, but--"

"No buts." Loor cut her off, growing hard again. "I like plans, and I don't like them changing. We need to leave evidence, not vanish without a trace."

"We're already here though." Kiba gave. "What are we gonna do?"

"Simple enough." Loor shrugged. "I happen to know the perfect place you guys can stay. You're lucky that Orochimaru's goon just vacated it."

* * *

Don't worry, I only spend one more chapter. Here. Then it's back to Konoha! WHOOOOOO!!!

Sorry, I'm all hyper like today for no reason. -bounces- I'm all crazy and stuffs.

ZIM EATS WAFFLES!

Sorry. Sorry. .

**No ownage.**

See you punks next time,

-Loor


	9. Love You, Love Me

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Nine-Love You, Love Me**

Rishu was right, it didn't take a shinobi to pick a lock. It _did, _however, take a shinobi like Gaara to make a key out of thin air... and sand.

Gaara and Kiba had followed Loor and Fury home as discreetly as they could. Later on, in the dead of night, Loor and Fury led them to Loor's old house, where Gaara made easy and clean work of breaking in. Loor showed them to the basement, and then turned to leave.

Both of the guys stopped them from doing that.

Kiba wanted to spend time with Fury, and though he would never say it Gaara wanted a few moments with Loor.

Of course, they both wanted time alone with their respective ladies. So Loor left Fury and Kiba in the lowest level and went back outside.

Gaara followed her.

She didn't even look at him, walking back to where it had all started. She left the deck, trekked across the yard, went over the bridge, through the trees, and ended up at her sparring grounds.

A few splinters of the barrel from the other night were still on the ground.

She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She didn't want to think about the bad things. She wanted to relax. She just wanted to relax. It was at this point that she sensed Gaara, still behind her. She turned her head, and then faced him.

"Why did you come?" She asked.

"I wanted to see you." He said simply.

Always so simple. A means to an end.

"That's all?" She questioned. "Gaara... I know you haven't grown up that much. You didn't plan this quite as a rescue. You were ready to kidnap me."

"I wasn't going to let go."

He didn't deny the kidnapping accusal.

She sighed, shaking her head. "How the hell did you even get the jutsu from Kakashi?"

"After Kiba got out of the hospital he was able to track down where Kakashi was keeping the pieces. I stole them, the notebook told us what we needed to know, and the picture gave us a destination. As far as I know, the Konoha authorities don't know that those things are missing. Kiba and I hope to return them before they are noticed."

"What about Temari and Kankuro? Do they know where you guys went? What about Kiba's team?"

"We used the same excuse. Individual mission, be out of the village for a few days." He sounded bored of her questions. He took a step up to her and grabbed her hand. "Why aren't you happy to see me?"

"I..." She stumbled. "I am happy... I just feel like you have another reason for being here, like there's something you wanna say to me, but you haven't said it yet."

He didn't say anything to that at first. He just stood there, holding her hand. He looked like he was deciding on whether or not to tell her what was on his mind.

"I want you to come back with me."

"I am coming back."

"Not to Konoha." He shook his head, looking up. "To Suna. My village."

She stared, forgetting to breathe for a moment. It took her mind a moment to get around that. Go back, with him, to where he lived. His village. She thought less about the wasteland part and more about the long distance from Konoha part.

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Why?"

"You expect me to leave my little sister behind?" She looked at him, frowning. "I can't leave her alone now. It's all... It's too much. I mean... way too much going on at the same time. I mean, I came home, got attacked by Orochimaru's goon, planned to come back to Konoha, then you guys show up." Her voice had a tone of frustration. "I just can't stand it when too many things change at once. I'm hardly handling this, and now you want me to up and move in with you? I think not! There's too much to think about, too much to consider. I need to think things out, I need to--"

He gently put his free hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Then think." He said softly, simply.

She was still shaking her head, closing her eyes and shaking harder to get his hand off of her face. "I need time."

"How much?"

She opened her eyes to see him, seeing how serious he looked. He still looked ready to kidnap her, even if she said no. It was his lack of emotional maturity. He still viewed her as something that belonged to him, and he wasn't going to be loosening his grip anytime soon.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "Can you please... just... wait?"

He let go of her hand, backing away a step. This was his way of giving her a little space. She didn't like another person's presence when she was trying to think, but she knew he wouldn't leave.

So she paced. This was big. Really big.

Fury was going to stay in Konoha. That was the big issue. Her sister was going to be in one place, and Loor wondered if she could stand being in another. She wanted to be with Gaara, no doubt about that, but she had the innate need to keep with her little sister.

But she didn't want to fall apart again when Gaara left Konoha to go back home. That would be hell. Lyra would be all over her love life again. She'd never walk the streets at night in that case.

She reasoned with herself. She had broken down like that because she thought she'd never see him again. Here, there was a difference. She knew that the villages were allies. There were passes to go to other villages, trips a person could take. Admittedly long distance relationships sucked, but her mentality would be able to handle the thought of seeing him now and then instead of never.

She knew it was less than what he wanted, but she couldn't leave Fury. Not just yet anyway.

Not now. She felt too vulnerable. Though Loor would never say it out loud... she felt small. Like a little kid in a grown-up's world. She wasn't even old enough to drive, and a guy was basically asking her to move in with him. She felt like she herself had no idea how complicated the issue really was beyond her own musings.

It was just too big. And she was too young to consider it. In her sheltered American existence, she was left unprepared for independent living and independent decisions. She was used to being able to fall back on her family for advice...

But she was alone.

She felt that more than ever, walking back and forth, putting her hands in her hair. Gaara sensed her stress, she knew, but she shot him a look that told him to stay the hell away. She couldn't ask him; he was biased. He'd suggest the option he wanted.

She eventually came to a stop.

She looked at him, and shook her head.

"One step at a time." She told him.

He blinked, as if he didn't understand what she meant.

"I can't handle too much at once." She clarified, repeating herself from earlier. "I blame it on my age, but I've seen people from your world handle much more than me without cracking, and they're just as old as me. But around here... you're not supposed to be making decisions for yourself till your sixteen, and not even big ones till you're eighteen."

"Most shinobi don't live that long." Gaara mentioned.

"I've heard." She answered dryly. "My point is... I just don't feel ready. I'm not sure, and not being sure turns into panic with me. I don't want to panic."

"I don't want to leave without you." His voice became cold. "But it sounds as if I will have to."

She felt a flare of frustration at his voice. She was trying to explain things, and he was giving a guilt trip. Her instinct was the punch him, but she walked up to him instead. Standing nose-to-nose, she would hope that they'd see eye-to-eye.

"You can't make me come with you against my will." She whispered, sounding hostile. "You know you can't."

"I certainly can." His voice was low, but just as intense. "But it would make you hate me, so I won't... yet."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Shinobi are tools, _Koishi, _which means they can be bought and sold between villages as such. With my aim to become Kazekage..." he actually smirked. "I could purchase you once I gained the title."

She felt her jaw go slack at the very concept. It was so... wrong! People weren't tools, and most certainly not her! She was a human being! Being bought and sold like an everyday object sounded so demeaning it made her bear her teeth at him. "I would so kill you..."

The smirk remained. He almost seemed playful, but his serious demeanor remained over it. He meant every word he said, though he'd probably only do such a thing as a last resort. "You've threatened that before."

"I mean it this time." She snarled. "I'm not saying no to you, I'm just saying not now. I gotta go from here to Konoha... give me some time before I have to jump again."

"Time..." He shook his head. "The one commodity that shinobi are rather short on."

"Not you." She pointed out. "And not me, thanks to you. As long as I keep those bottles of sand, I'm that much better off. Now stop expecting me to die before I do what you're askin' me to do!"

He was silent. It had been a long time since she'd actually yelled at him. She actually sounded enraged.

Was is that bad that other people cared about her?

After a short while... he nodded. "As you wish. Then you will come?"

"Yes." She confirmed. "Just not right away."

"When?" He questioned. He was still antsy. Almost desperate.

"I... I dunno!" She thew up her arms in exasperation. "I'm frigging thirteen for God's sake! How the hell am I supposed to know?" She shook her head, taking a deep breath and letting it out. She had to keep her head on straight. Yelling at him would do no good at all. She just had to breathe. Just breathe.

He was looking for assurance. He was afraid that she'd run away again like she had done before, in coming home. He didn't want her to be the one who got away.

Rightfully so.

"Alright... alright.." She held her hands out, as if to show she'd come to an end and solution. "I promise it'll be before I turn fifteen. Okay? Is that good enough?"

"I don't forget things."

He stated it like it was a warning.

"I don't expect you to forget." She smiled, throwing her arms around him to hug him. "I expect you to remember and beat my head in with it when I forget. Trust me, in a year and a half... I'll forget all about this conversation." She paused. "Actually... thinking about it, I turn fifteen in a little less than that. Time flies when you're out of your mind, eh?"

He had returned her hug, but seemed puzzled by her expression. "Time... how can it fly?"

She laughed. She couldn't help it. He was so... literal. First well-grounded crazy person she'd ever met.

And God she was glad that she'd met him, half a year ago.

Actually, slightly more than half a year.

She had to stop getting hung up on details. Eventually she let go, waving him forward to start going back to the house.

He started to walk, but she stayed. She turned her face skyward.

The stars were out. She remembered Lyra pointing out what was gone, that the music Loor knew so well had vanished.

Now, in looking up, she almost cried at what had returned.

Music. Sweet, beautiful, melody. She cracked a bitter smile, because there was more than the melody she knew. There was more than that to this music. It had vanished when Loor closed herself off from the world, refusing to accept the demise of her family. Now, after she had visited their graves and come to grips with the situation, the music had returned with an addition.

Loor's mother loved to sing. It's where Loor got a love for music, listing to her mother sing to songs like 'Piano Man' and 'American Pie.' Their voices were almost exactly alike, both being female tenors. They liked to sing loudly and passionately. Loor would know her mother's voice anywhere.

And she heard it. Clearly, among the star's music, she heard it.

Her mother sang to her.

She hummed, softly, while tears came to her eyes. She couldn't help it. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but she didn't care. She heard what she heard, and it tugged at her heart.

"Mom..." She muttered softly. "Love you..."

She then looked down to find that Gaara had turned back, waiting for her. He hadn't walked a step, and had probably watched her. He didn't question her strange display though. He saw her tears, and held his arm out. She quickly went up to him, ducking under his arm and securing it over her shoulder.

No one would ever believe her, but he was actually quite warm when hugged hard enough.

* * *

Hehe... cute-ness. But enough with this part of the story. ONWARD!! BACK TO KONOHA! -Dances-

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	10. Konoha

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Ten-Konoha**

The week was uneventful beyond that night, and if Loor were to try and recall, nothing but a blur would come of her efforts. There was school, video games, visiting the boys in the dead of night, and sleep. Not a lot of sleep though, seeing as Loor and her sister were very excited. Every day off of the calender was a day closer to leaving this place behind for good.

A step closer to going home.

When Friday night came, it was time for them to fake their own kidnap. Loor went outside to break the lock on the door, to make it look like someone forced their way in, while Fury threw their bedding around and basically made a mess of where they slept. Following the path up the stairs to the sliding door, they both participated in knocking things over in the dark.

As an extra piece to make it an absolute horror show for Fury's mom, Loor took a kitchen knife and struck her own hand with it, smearing blood on the floor. She decided to keep the knife. She'd get rid of it somewhere the authorities wouldn't find it.

Once done with that, the girls took off for Loor's place. They didn't bother walking, using chakra to run faster than most cars driving through the area. Already, Loor felt free. She felt so much better than being bound down to one place, dancing to a social worker's tune.

She was a shinobi... no fighting it.

The boys were waiting when they got to the house, Kiba and the dogs visibly impatient. Gaara was just waiting, his arms crossed, his face closed. The girls took a quick trip through the creek that ran through the place, for suspicion's sake and in an effort to cover their tracks, before the four of them (plus the dogs) started on the last step that would bring them home.

The jutsu.

No one saw.

No one knew.

Under the light of the moon there were there, and beneath a wisp of cloud... they were gone.

The world would never know what happened that night. The next morning there would be dogs and cops and investigators, and the newspapers and radio would be all abuzz that the murderer from eight months ago had returned to finish the job. Fury's mother would cry and curse the day she let Fury sleep over at Loor's house that night, so long ago, believing it was all her fault that Fury got caught up in this.

In a few days, the town would mourn the loss of two little girls.

In a few weeks, everyone but Fury's parents would forget.

No one saw.

No one knew.

They were gone, oh yes.

But not dead.

* * *

Dawn was upon Konoha.

Places stirred with people who woke with the sun, where others who woke with the moon were heading to their homes to finally take sleep. People began to walk the streets as the sun rose up, bringing with it the constantly warm temperature that Konoha enjoyed as its year round climate.

It was a normal, beautiful, day.

On a day like this, Lee had actually slept in. He usually rose before the sun, not with it. The first beams in his eyes was the signal that he had stayed in bed an hour too long. Of course he felt panic, leaping from bed and dashing about the room to get ready for the day. He was back to training full time and was trying to cover all the ground he lost while stuck in the hospital. Without his usual morning run through the village, he wouldn't be warmed up in time for training with his team!

Running around, he made a new record for getting ready in the morning. He considered skipping his morning meal, but decided that he was indeed hungry. Loor had stocked his fridge with all sorts of things when she had lived there, and he was still trying to eat it all before it went bad. The problem was he didn't know how to cook. He still ate what he made, no matter how badly burnt, but he wondered if she knew how to cook it all.

That thought made him stop right before throwing his bedroom door open, hefting a sigh. Loor had been gone for a month and some, but he was yet to get over it. He missed her, very much. She had left just as he came back home, but he remembered the time before he was hospitalized that they had lived together for a while. She was good company.

And she was gone.

He bit his lip, hard, trying to distract himself. He didn't want to get emotional too early in the morning, or he'd be sad all day. Still, many people of the village had been affected by her absence. Every life she had touched seemed to mourn her and her sister as if they were dead. Ino and Choji talked about having wanted to get to know Fury better, and Konohamaru had come around the apartment just because he missed having Loor sleeping next to him. Sakura had been teaching Fury genjutsu and was disappointed that Fury was gone, seeing as she was a great student. Even Neji seemed to show a little remorse that his most hated blond in the village had left the scene.

Lee shook his head. "Enough." he muttered to himself.

He took a hold of the knob and opened his bedroom door.

The first thing that met his senses was the smell of eggs. Good eggs, not like his burnt ones. The smell perked curiosity, and that's when he saw something that nearly floored him.

Loor.

She was standing at the stove, making eggs of some style. He couldn't see. He saw her. She was standing there, dressed in her usual green coat and her undergarments, shameless. He blinked, as if she would vanish, along with the smell of the food, but both stayed. She was still there. She hadn't changed one bit. She was still blond, tawny hair reaching the small of her back, short for her age, curvy with her wide shoulders and large hips, with freckles peppering her skin.

She hadn't heard his door open over the sizzling sound the eggs made in the pan, so she hadn't turned to look at him.

She did when he spoke though.

"I am dreaming...?"

She whipped her head around, blue eyes locking on to him.

She greeted him with a huge smile. "Lee! Hungry?"

He nodded dumbly, still shocked. What had happened? Why was she here? He was dreaming. Surely. He had to be dreaming.

"Sit down." She commanded. "Almost done."

He did as he was told, sure that his jaw was hanging open. "I... you... what...?" He forced his brain to work, trying to put together a sentence. "When did you...?"

"We came back." She said simply. "Got here last night. I still had a key to your place, so I decided to come here. I woke up really early, found out you hadn't taken off just yet, and thought I'd make something to eat." She shook her head slightly, moving the pan off of the burner and shutting it off, still poking it with the spatula. "I have to be honest, my eggs aren't as good as how my mum used to make 'em, but you take what you get, right?"

He managed to shut his jaw, nodding slightly. "But... Loor, why? I thought--"

"I thought a lot of things too, Lee." She dropped out of her happy tone. She stopped poking the eggs to get plates out, setting the table for two. "But I was wrong. That place had nothing for me... or Fury. We were sitting ducks... in a life I hated."

There was silence. She took the time to push the eggs out of the pan and onto the two plates she'd put on the table. The eggs were scrambled and had bits of bacon in them. After that she put the pan back on the stove for it to cool before she washed it, sitting down and looking across the table at him.

He still seemed to be in shock.

"Lee." She said, trying to gain his attention. It came as his brown eyes focused on her. "I'm sorry I put everyone through this. If I hadn't been so stubborn..." She shook her head.

"No." He finally seemed to have his head on straight again. "If you had not gone away... you would always be wanting to go away. This way, you know there is nothing left, instead of telling yourself that and never knowing."

She had opened her mouth to argue with him, but closed it, turning to her eggs. "True." She muttered before munching.

"Loor, so many people... they think of you and Fury as dead. What will you do?"

She cleared her mouth and laughed, looking up at him with a grin. "If the looks we get are as priceless as the look I got from you, I'll say the shock value is going to be a lot of fun. Might as well parade around Konoha, try to surprise as many people as possible before word gets around."

He blinked, and then melted into a smile. That sounded like something she'd do. He still felt as if he were speaking to a ghost, but at least she hadn't changed in nature. "Naruto will be so happy you came back in time. He and his sensei are to leave tomorrow. You can see him off."

She suddenly jumped up from her chair, forgetting her eggs. "_Nii-san _is still here???! Why the hell didn't you say so before?"

"I..." He trailed off, shrugging with an innocent look on his face.

"Whatever." She waved at him as she rushed around the table to find her pants. She had come home with the clothes that had been on her back and the clothes she usually wore in Konoha. She was more than happy to pull on the soft black pants instead of her blue jeans. "Eat. If you're late for training, Gai will have your head, and mine too once he finds out I'm back. I gotta go tell the Hokage, and then I'm gonna go find _Nii-san._"

Lee had been watching her, and nodded dumbly before turning to his eggs, finally eating.

Lee had never eaten scrambled eggs before. The eggs he had tried to make were scrambled before cooking, but he would try to make a flat patty in the pan and then cut it into strips. Still, it wasn't burnt, so he wasn't one to refuse.

He took the spoon Loor had gave him rather than chopsticks and tried it.

"It's spicy." He noted.

"No it's not. I added no spice, just flavor." She laughed, tying her headband around her middle. "Also known as curry powder."

He turned, giving her one of his dashing smiles. "I like it."

She laughed, going up and giving him a quick hug. "Help yourself to mine. I gotta get busy."

He nodded, hugging back and not letting her get away when she tried to let go. "Loor... will you be staying here?"

"This world?" She questioned, squeezing him again. "Yes. I've got nothing to go back to."

He let her away and nodded. "Good luck finding Tsuande and Naruto."

"Good luck explaining why you're not early for once." She returned, laughing. She went to the door, slipped on her open toe shoes, and left.

Lee went back to his eggs, smiling.

* * *

Tsunade was taking a morning stroll by the hospital. She spent half of her time there, the other half spent at the Hokage building, and didn't stray far from either when she got a few seconds to breathe. For the moment she was happy to laze in the sun, happy that Shizune wasn't yelping duties into her ear for once.

"Tsunade!!"

Scratch that.

Tsunade heard the voice calling her name and assumed it was Shizune. She didn't react to it, hoping to prolong her mini-vacation for as long as possible. She'd just soak up the sun for a few more seconds before Shizune dragged her back to the office.

"Tsuande!!"

Wait a second...

That didn't sound like Shizune. It was a girl, but the voice was lower. Tsuande still didn't look.

"Yo, granny Tsuande! You go deaf while I was gone?!"

Who was that...? That couldn't be...???

That voice, mixed with the obnoxious vernacular, pointed Tsunade to only one person. She jerked around, staring at the last person she expected to see... ever.

She couldn't help but smile. "Shorty! What in the world are you doing here?"

Loor was running up, looking irked at being ignored.

"Lookin' for you." Loor snapped, stopping once she made it to the hospital grounds. "I wanted to tell you..." She puffed, having ran the whole way. "Fury and I... we're back for good..."

Tsunade shook her head, laughing. "Damn it. Think you could disappear for one more day? I still gotta collect from Naruto."

"You bet I wouldn't come back?" Loor felt the urge to punch the old lady, but still smirked. "C'mon, Tsuande, give me some credit."

"Hey, it was for good reason!" Tsunade laughed. "I figured if I bet against you, there was no way you wouldn't come back. I was just hoping to get my money first. Oh well. What's 500 ryo in the grand scheme of things?"

"Two bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's?" Loor offered.

"I'm sure that's how Naruto will see it."

"Either way..." Loor shook her head. "Fury and I are permanent now. But I have to... report I guess. While we were there, Orochimaru sent someone after us. He... he made me more powerful, but I'm not sure at what cost."

Tsuande became less humorous. "He knew you left... which means he's gathering intelligence inside the village somehow."

"Flaws in the security?"

"A shinobi is trained to get through flawless systems." The Hokage said, rubbing her head. "There's always one more mole to dig out. I'll see what I can find. As for you, watch your back. I'll come looking for you when I've figured out squad arrangements."

"Squad arrangements?" Loor questioned.

"All shinobi are on a three man team. It's how we train and how we test. You and Fury are two, and missing a sensei. I'll see what I can do about making you into a trio with a leader." Tsunade turned to walk back to the Hokage building. "See you around, Shorty."

Loor glared after Tsunade. The whole Shorty thing was getting old.

"Hey!" She barked before the Hokage got too far away. "Any idea on where I could find Naruto?"

"Try at his house! He's probably packing!"

* * *

Naruto was preparing for tomorrow.

Tomorrow was a huge day for him. He'd leave the village. Not just that, he'd be leaving the village for three frigging years. He was a little nervous, and more than a little sad. Still, he had to pack, and he did so while chewing on a piece of candy.

Hinata had heard he was leaving and stopped over with a box of treats a good-luck gift. He had been gnawing on the candy all day, as if it would calm him down. Sakura had dropped by too, offering to help him pack, but he politely declined.

He still felt like he had betrayed her. He promised he'd bring Sasuke back... and failed. Now he was taking off for three years. He felt terrible about that. He'd been down in the dumps for a while. Hinata's visit the day before had done some to alleviate that, but he still felt sad.

He went for another piece of candy when someone knocked on the door.

"Hm?" He glanced up, halfway through unwrapping a red hard candy. His nose told him is was strawberry. "Door's open!"

The knock came again. There was no voice to say who it was, or why he should open the door when it wasn't locked, just a knock.

"Oi, _baka!" _He snapped at the door. "Let yourself in!"

There wasn't a third knock.

He sighed, leaving his candy on the table and walking to the door, throwing it open in a somewhat angry motion. "Listen, this isn't--"

He broke off.

No one was there.

"... funny?" He questioned, stepping outside and looking around. He was suddenly on edge, crouching into battle stance and glancing everywhere. He saw nothing.

Eventually, he looked up.

There, standing on the area of wall above his door, was someone he hadn't seen in far too long.

"_Nani...?" _He stared. _"Imoto-chan!" _

Loor, looking down at him, snickered. "Did you miss me?"

He blinked a few times. He wasn't sure if he was seeing what he was really seeing. She... she was gone, but she was here. After staring long enough, he decided that it was either her or a ghost of her. Still, he had no idea what to say. He wanted to say how much he missed her, or how happy he was that she was back in time to see him off. He wanted to yell at her for leaving in the first place. There was so many things snapping through his ADHD mind that it took him forever to say anything.

But eventually... he came up with something to break the ice.

"Tsunade owes me money now."

* * *

YAY! Okay, that's all I got for now people. Why? Because my computer died; again. We managed to salvage my documents and get them on the main computer of the house, but I just can't write unless I'm in my own space. Sorry. The muse don't like it.

Speaking of the muse, there is a new poll on my profile. Go vote!!

**No ownage!**

See you punks next time.

-Loor


	11. Touching Base

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Eleven-Touching Base**

"Man, I wish you had come back sooner. I take off tomorrow."

"As I heard." Loor snickered, sitting on Naruto's bed in his apartment while watching him pack. She noticed the candy he was sucking on but didn't ask for any, and he didn't offer any. "Glad I caught you before you left though. I wanted to talk to you."

"Hm...?" He glanced at her, stuffing basic things into a green pack. Underwear, an extra shirt, ramen instant cups, and stuff of that like. "What about?"

"You said that when you come back from this trip, you plan to go after Sasuke." She allowed herself a cattish smile. "I plan to help you. Not for Sasuke; I don't like the kid all that much. I'm just hoping to get a shot in at Orochimaru."

"I expected that." He sighed slightly, pushing the pack aside and looking up at her from where he sat on the floor. "You must hate him more than ever, after going home and finding all those empty memories."

"Naruto..." She shook her head, frowning. "It's more than that. He sent someone after us... and the guy got me. You remember what happened the Sasuke? The barrel?"

Naruto stared at her for a second, as if not understanding what she was getting at. A bit later, it dawned on him. "Oh jeez! You're not hurt, are you??"

She laughed at him. "It's okay. It was more civil than that. But still... I'm afraid. If the curse was powered up, I'm worried about what effect it might have on me in the future. And Lyra, for that matter. I... I don't think Orochimaru knows about her. I hope to keep it that way. When it comes down to it, I look forward to surprising him."

"You have the same mark as Sasuke... right?"

"Right. Why?"

"All the nin we faced from the Sound village... they all had marks, but they all had different effects." He paused, frowning. Loor had seen him like this before, but it was still strange when he was serious. She trusted Naruto to be a beam of blinding sunshine, so something really had to mess with him before he'd turn into Johnny Raincloud.

Something was really messing with him.

"I'm thinkin..." He continued. "That the same curse marks, the ones that are the same shape, have similar effects. It's just a guess. I don't have any proof, but it's an idea."

"What does it do?" She asked. "I mean... you fought Sasuke, right?"

"I tried to." He answered, depressed. "He... it made him change. His skin went dark and he got a black mark on his face... more than that, his face and eyes changed, and his hair... everything about him changed. He turned into something with wings that looked like hands... he was all twisted up." He looked at her, his sapphire eyes almost desperate. "Don't let it take you over. Ever. I don't want to see two of my friends like that."

She slid to the floor to sit behind him, hugging him in a sisterly fashion. "Don't worry, _Nii-san._ I don't plan on using this curse. Just... smile? Please? For me?"

He looked over his shoulder to see her there, trying to look cute. She was actually very good at it. When she wasn't so focused on being intimidating, her small stature and big blue eyes made her look more like a playful kitten than a dangerous shinobi. Of course, Naruto knew better, but he had to smile when she made with 'the look.'

"Alright, alright! Just stop doing that!" He pushed her off, snickering. "You make that face for long enough, the world is gonna blow up, believe it!" He snickered. "You should go around like that more often, make everyone think you're a little angel... instead of an _oni." _

"Whats the fun in that?" She questioned. "I have to do my best to intimidate people when I first meet them, or they never take me seriously."

"That is, till you kick their ass."

"No, no, not even after that. I think they go into denial or something." She grinned, standing up. "Anyway... I still have a few people to scare the living piss out of, so I'll leave you to your packing, okay?"

He nodded, looking up at her. "Just one thing before you go?"

"What?"

"Promise me you'll take care of Sakura while I'm gone. I'm worried about her... she still acts the same, but I think she's hurting on the inside. When she does break, you're the person I want her going to." He tried to smile, but it had some sadness to it. "I'm gonna miss everyone. Take care of them."

She snickered, striking Lee's 'Nice Guy' pose with the toothy smile included. "You got it."

Loor should have known better than to promise him.

Whenever she promised someone something, something happened to make her a liar.

* * *

"Yo! Shino! Hinata! Look who's back!"

It was Kiba's jovial call that heralded Fury's entrance. Catching the attention of his team members, everyone welcomed Fury back. Fury was happy to see Hinata out of the hospital, and turned the conversation down that road before anyone asked where exactly where she had gone or why she'd come back.

Kiba's team had been gathered at the training grounds that they usually used, waiting for Kurenai, Ino's team, and Asuma. After talking about Hinata getting out of the hospital for a while the conversation turned to those who were hospitalized while trying to bring Sasuke back when he ran off. Turned out that everyone was healed up and on duty again, including Choji.

"We were training with Ino's team before Choji got out," Kiba mentioned, grinning. "And lemme tell ya, Ino was a mess. I mean, he's been helping her out with the whole colorblindness thing, but they got to dating over it... so when he nearly got killed..." He chuckled. "Nasty. Asuma and Kurenai were understanding though. They didn't ask that much of her."

"What about Shikamaru?" Fury questioned. "Didn't he get hurt too?"

"Jerk got off with a broken finger." Kiba snorted. "Though as I hear it, he hooked up with the girl who saved his ass... the Sand shinobi with the fan."

"Gaara's big sister? Temari?" Fury sounded surprised. "Wait, hooked up?!"

"It's not so strange." Shino said quietly, in his normal way, which was a creepy way. "It is a harsh world... shinobi are not known for living long. We try to love young for fear of not loving at all."

"But..." Fury's eyes were wide. "You don't mean... hooked up like... having _sex?" _

"Well, yeah." Kiba snickered. "What else would it mean? Like Shino said. If you gotta die young, might as well love younger."

One might've noticed that Hinata had turned bright red during this conversation. She didn't seem horrified like Fury was, but she wasn't going to say anything one way or another for fear of stuttering.

"You people are underage!" Fury yelped, hugging herself. Her voice whipped Akamaru and Schizo up into barking, circling around their owners' feet. "That's just..." She made a face, not finishing the sentence.

"Well, when to people start doing it where you come from?" Kiba asked pointedly. He asked it out of curiosity but also to save Fury from the other two asking where exactly she came from along with asking about the standards.

"Well... some people start around sixteen, but people really don't think you should even know about it till your eighteen, and shouldn't even do it unless you're over twenty and married."

"Sixteen?!" Kiba crowed, making the dogs bark even more. He was laughing though. "Jeez, you people are stiffs."

"What are you guys talking about?"

The group turned to see Ino's team approaching, Choji in the lead with Ino, Ino having asked the question.

When Fury looked, her jaw nearly dropped.

Ino looked... different. Fury didn't know how to place it at first, but to say that she looked better. She wasn't sure what it was till she noticed that the girl wasn't a twig. Oh, she was still a small person horizontally, that was just her structure, but the girl had curves. She looked more like a human being than a skeleton with skin wrapped around it. She was also smiling. Not one of those 'I'm superior' smiles. No, she had a big smile that said she was actually really happy.

Choji was grinning too.

Fury's brain choked on the thought that they were both about thirteen and the might have been sexually involved with each other. She came to question as to why the two looked so damn happy, but decided not to ask for fear of getting all the details. Everyone seemed pretty open.

"I-Ino..." Fury still managed. "You look great."

The colorblind girl beamed at the comment, her team joining the circle that everyone had been standing in while talking. "Blame Choji's parents. They won't let me get away with less than two servings of everything."

"How's your mom taking it...?" Hinata asked in her little voice.

"She tried getting me to go on a diet, till dad started talking about how good I looked. Now its a trend."

Kiba laughed. "Oh? How's it working for her?"

"Her boobs got perkier." Ino shrugged. "Other than that... I don't think the weight has gone anywhere else on her body."

Fury felt herself turning the same shade of red that Hinata had been before. They'd gone from sex to boobs. Wonderful.

"Anyway," Ino shook her head, looking to Fury. "When did you get back?"

"Last night." She answered. "We... we came home to nothing, and decided our place was here."

There was a moment of silence. What the others were envisioning was probably a little outpost town that had been completely demolished, leaving the girls nowhere to go but back. Fury didn't correct this probable vision. She let them think whatever they wanted to think, because they would think what they could accept.

"I'm sorry." Ino muttered. "You really mean... nothing? Nothing at all?"

"Just some graves."

Fury said that for Loor's sake. People would know not to ask if it was marked as an emotionally touchy subject. Everyone in the circle winced, telling her that mission was accomplished. No one would ask Loor unless they wanted their ass kicked.

"You're handling it pretty well." Shikamaru noted. "Wasn't your family still there when you guys left in the first place?"

"Family?" Fury snorted. "You mean my controlling mom and dead-beat dad? I didn't have much reason to go back in the first place."

"You don't feel bad?" Shino questioned.

"Bad?" She frowned. "I'm a little sad that I'll never see them again... but I was tired of waiting for my life to start. You guys don't understand what I was living in back there... kids don't do _anything_ till their eighteen. It's pointless. I didn't give a shit about my step-dad, and my real dad can go to hell..." She shook her head. "So there was my mom, and I'm sure I'll miss her a lot when I'm older... but right now, I just wanna move on with life."

"Well spoken."

The group turned when two more people entered.

Kurenai and Asuma sensei had arrived.

"Now then," Kurenai smirked. "I think it's time to break Fury back in, now that she's one of us for good."

* * *

Neji was training alone.

It's how he usually did things. He was a solitary being and usually spent training independent of the rest of his team unless Lee wanted to spar or Gai had come up with an exercise for the three of them, or a mission. In recent days they had gotten a lot of missions, most of which were within the village and nothing exciting. It left Neji bored.

He got irritated when he was bored, which made him worse at interacting with other people than usual. He wasn't one to talk, and didn't see the point in hanging around the others. They weren't doing anything interesting, or talking about anything new.

Konoha had become rather boring. The next set of the Chunnin exams had been delayed for repairs on the stadium, so there were no goals to set, or even new and interesting shinobi in the village. Of course, Gaara and his siblings had returned and were yet to leave, but Neji didn't take much interest in them.

Everything was business as usual.

And that irritated him.

He suddenly became alert. He was practicing with the Byakugan, trying to extend his range. For the time being, he could see fifty meters in all directions.

Something had just entered his range; moving fast...

Heading for him.

He had enough time to identify it as human. Beyond that, it had to be a shinobi for how fast it was going. It would be on him in seconds, so he turned himself to face the oncoming threat. He didn't know how he knew it was hostile, but he was sure it wasn't Lee or TenTen coming to tell him that they had a new mission or otherwise.

It leapt out of the woods, coming from the tree branches above. It landed beyond him, making him turn quickly to try and defend before--

He suffered a kick to the side of the face, making him spin the way he was already turning. He felt himself going down and continued the spin, rolling when he hit the ground and getting to his feet again, ready this time. He faced the intruder, ready to rock.

That is, till he saw her.

"Did you miss me?"

Short, blond, curvy. There she stood, after having vanished for a month and some.

Probably the most interesting yet annoying person he knew.

"Well?" Loor questioned with the hostile smile he usually saw on her. "Did you?"

He remembered the last time he had seen her. She had been standing over his hospital bed, telling him that she was never coming back. He had been happy at the time. He wouldn't have to try and beat her down anymore, wouldn't be sucked into her cryptic mind whenever she wanted discuss something, wouldn't have to live with the fact that she very well could be his equal, and wouldn't ever hear of her insane alternate personality again.

But she had made life interesting. Somewhat difficult, but interesting.

He stood straight, out of battle stance. She reflected him, relaxing. "What brings you back to Konoha?"

"Living people." She shrugged. "Adventure, actually doing stuff instead of sitting around like a load."

"Sitting around like a...?" He gave her a blank look before shaking his head. She was as strange as she always was. "Does Lee know?"

"You should have seen his jaw hit the floor." She answered with a giggle.

He stared at her for a moment more before hardening. "Why did you come to see me?"

"Huh?" She shrugged. "I need a reason?"

"You usually want to taunt or argue or fight." He frowned at her. "You seem far too smug to be here without a reason."

"So suspicious!" She chided, as if she were scolding a child. "I was just hoping I'd get a bigger reaction out of you. I mean, Lee couldn't even speak for a few seconds."

"He actually cares about you." He responded with an arched brow. "Perhaps you should try surprising other people in the same category."

Loor's smug smile twitched.

That was the Neji she knew.

"Great to know you still have a stick stuck firmly up your ass." She quipped. "And I don't need a reason to stop by. I just wanted to notify you that I was back in town. So... you know, watch your back at night and all that crap."

He gave her a testing look. He knew what was capable of affecting her at night. More of, who. "You'd dare to go out at night?"

"I dare to do whatever I want." She snickered. He noticed a change in her from the last time he'd seen her. Before she would grin, and smile, but there was always a boiling rage and icy anger behind it. Before she seemed to carry a burden of unimaginable sorrow. Now she seemed freed, as if that burden had been cut away and lifted off.

She had the ability to be happy no matter what, but now there was nothing blocking her... and she was downright hyper.

"Go away." He dismissed. "You being perky makes me sick."

He had turned from her. Bad idea. She went to attack him, but he turned in blocked her. It left them nose-to-nose with their arms locked up while she held aggression with her strange playfulness.

"C'mon, Neji." She teased. "You can smile too, y'know. It would make TenTen very happy. Admit it... you might just be a _little_ bit happy I'm back."

He blinked at her, and then turned quickly to throw her aside. She landed on her side, but rolled into it to right herself instead of taking a hard impact. She was on her feet before he could say, "Well... you're being here is good for entertainment value."

He didn't smile, but he did smirk.

"Best I can hope for." She chuckled, standing straight instead of looking like she was ready for a fight. "Nice to touch base..." she added her last words with a grin. "Blind man."

"Hopeless case." He shot back.

She giggled, and turned back into the woods to vanish.

He shook his head.

He actually had hoped she'd come back.

* * *

HAHA! MY COMPUTER!!! SHE LIVES!

Well, more like we made another one live and transplanted her brain, but still! I CAN WRITE AGAIN!!!

-dances-

So yeah, this is what I got for this weekend so far and I got this party thing tonight cause I got my grades up. -dances again- There's gonna be karaoke! God imagine the ideas this is going to spawn... -shivers-

Oh well people, see you next time.

**No ownage. **

-Loor


	12. Vunerable

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Twelve- Vulnerability**

Loor knew where to go when night fell. There had been no previous agreement as to where she was to go or who she was to meet, but she simply knew where she needed to be. She knew where she was expected to be. As she knew to go there, someone else knew to be there. No words had been exchanged on this arrangement, but it still existed.

And so Loor walked in a leisurely manner towards the river clearing. When she got there she was not in the slightest bit surprised to find Gaara waiting for her, sitting by the river bank and staring off.

Loor, consciously, looked up at the darkening night sky in search of the moon to check how full it was. Sadly, the night was too young for her to see it yet. Dismissing the thought she entered the clearing, Gaara turning to look at her.

"I expected you to look more excited." He said in his usual way, not seeming incredibly enthused himself. Still, it was Gaara. It was a tad hard to enthuse him.

"Yeah, and I expected you to jump me." She laughed, walking up and sitting beside him. "Today's been a bit much. People I've had to say hello to again... and finding out about the good-bye I'll be saying soon." She went to explaining before he could even give her a questioning look. "Naruto is leaving the village tomorrow. Him and his sensei are gonna be away for a few years."

Gaara took this news silently, the flat line of his mouth tugging only slightly toward a frown. "He will be missed... but what of Sasuke? Naruto made it clear that he wanted to go after his team mate."

"As I've heard the story, Sasuke is in no immediate danger from Orochimaru." For once the snake's name didn't taste sour on her tongue. "In three years he will be, and that's when Naruto is going to be back. That's when he's going to go after Sasuke... he wants me to help."

Gaara nodded slowly, his blue eyes staring out over the river. "He's so hateful; Sasuke."

"I can understand. A lot has happened to him."

"More than you?" He asked softly. "One would expect you to be hateful, but you surround yourself with people. You heal yourself by healing others. You still smile."

"One can smile and still be hateful." She gave, her voice almost as soft as his. "I heal others to make myself feel good."

He looked to her, seeing that her face had gone away from smiling. In the calm of the woods she became serious, smothered in thought.

He would have told her to stop thinking, but found himself a man of action. He leaned over to her, kissing her on the cheek to try and distract her from whatever troubled her.

She turned her head to him, eyes cloudy. "What was that for?"

"I need a reason?" He questioned, no sarcasm evident. He actually seemed curious on her asking why.

"Of course you do. You don't kiss a person for no reason at all." Her face became cross. "Everyone does everything for a reason, even if the reason is so small they themselves don't even know what it--"

He cut her off, kissing her lips this time.

She blinked at him. "What the hell is with you? You never go first, besides that one time when you were curious, and that didn't end well if you don't remember."

"I remember." He smirked, leaning to her enough to be nearly touching noses with her. He liked being close to her. Her eyes sparked, even though she was confused. "But I don't see how things can go wrong here."

"Things can go wrong _anywhere._" Her face grew even more agitated. "What makes you think this place is any safer when we carry the danger with us everywhere? You don't wanna get me going buddy-boy, not unless you want Lyra to--"

He stopped her again, grabbing her head and making contact, daring to suck on her lower lip to try and bring her into the kiss before she had a chance to fight him off. It felt like she was going to struggle, but she then returned it by taking his upper lip.

She had a dim feeling that he had leaned over her, making her lay back in the grass, but she was more focused on other parts of the situation. How she got to be on the ground and how he got to be on top of her really didn't seem to matter.

And then he pulled away. He smiled at her, though it was almost laughable on his face. His smiles looked evil, no matter what he did. This once he had made an attempt at looking happy instead of murderous and it made his face look twisted.

She stared at him for a second, feeling a returning smile twitching before she remembered the rant she was having.

"What the fuck?" She questioned him. "Why are you doing this?"

His smile morphed to a mischievous and devious look, which was much more fitting to his face. "Everything you thought about and talked about made you unhappy. You shouldn't be unhappy around me."

"Why the hell not?" She glared at him. "If I'm upset I should be allowed to _be_ upset, regardless of who I'm with."

"True, but if you're unhappy around me I'm going to kiss you."

He had leaned his head down, daring to kiss her neck to study the effect. She drew her chin up, which made him do it again in the assumption that she liked it. Once again she questioned him, "Why?"

"It seems to make you happy."

She let out a sigh, and though it sounded like an expression of enjoyment, the way it was let out said that she was still trying to be mad at something.

"You shouldn't be doing this to me." She said quietly, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to pull him away from her neck. He came up, but only to grab her wrists and pin them down. It was good to have gravity on his side, because without it she would have been able to struggle away.

It was his turn to ask, "Why?"

She shook her head, various bits of her body wiggling for escape while he subsequently shifted his body to keep her down. "There's a lotta reasons, including that we're what, thirteen and thirteen and a half? Do you know how _wrong_ this is?"

He bent his head beside hers, kissing at her shoulder this time to try and find more spots where she would squirm in a good way. "There is nothing wrong with this."

"There's everything wrong with this!"

He felt her shiver when sucking at the nape of her neck, and smirked. Did she fight everything she wanted?

"Why?" He questioned into her neck.

She snarled at him, managing to roll on top. With gravity, and being physically stronger than him, she pinned him down and sat upon his stomach. "We're too young for this to be right. And... and..." She shook her head, as if she had to dig for reasons on why what was going on was bad. "What about... y'know, _them? _I'm surprised they haven't tried to take advantage of the situation yet."

"You're afraid?"

"I ain't afraid of shit!" She nearly yelled this to his face, her eyes fierce and angry. "I'll give you slightly nervous, but I ain't scared."

"You? Nervous?"

Yes, he had attempted sarcasm. Attempted. His voice sounded more threatening than facetious.

She stared at him for a second more, and then stood up to look down upon him. "I understand you people having sex at a young age, but excuse me for being born in a society that frowns at someone doing it before their twenties."

He was on his feet before she had turned and walked two steps to leave. He quickly grabbed her from behind, and she could feel him against her rump. He held her tightly, possessively.

"What are you afraid of?"

"I just told you, I'm not scared."

He shook his head, and decided to play it her way. "What is making you nervous?"

She shook her head, letting out a soft sigh.

"What do you see in me?" She questioned. She sounded sad, almost lost. "Why do you want this?"

"Why don't you?" He asked the question sharply. Her pussyfooting around intimacy was highly out of character. "I'm curious."

"Curiosity." She gave a laugh, but it was rueful. "I don't mind curiosity, but..."

She trailed off.

"Tell me." He growled, keeping his hold on her for fear that she'd try to run.

"You've asked a lot of me, Gaara." She stated. "A lot more than I want to be asked. I've asked stuff of you too, that I admit to... but I'm just so..." Her fists balled. "I feel vulnerable and I hate it. I feel like a little kid, and then you're asking me to come back with you to Suna and then..." She paused, leaving the next part of her sentence obvious. "I feel so small and feeble, and you're asking me to make some of life's biggest decisions."

She turned her head to him, and she could see that he didn't understand. Of course he didn't. He was in a live-young-die-young world. It was probably still okay to get pregnant at thirteen in this culture. This was a world obsessed with war and how often the average human being got killed.

In all reality, they were like animals trying to reproduce as soon as possible to help the overall population survive. The young were raised to be capable of taking care of themselves by the time they're old enough to walk, and conditioned to mate quickly and live as long as possible.

Compared to a 'socially advanced' society such as her own, it seemed so much simpler... and made a lot more sense than waiting till a particular government mandated age to have sex and get married.

But she was still stuck there. Her brain told her that was the way to live. She had been planning on learning about the world of sex first hand around the age of sixteen, but at the age of thirteen she was still viewed as a child.

She still shook her head, relaxing in his arms and leaning back slightly so he had to support her instead of trying to hold her back. "I just don't know what to say to you."

There was a long pause. He was thinking about what to say to her.

"Say..." He seemed unsure about the statement he had come upon, seeing as he wasn't sure if it would please her as a compromise. "Say you won't die before you find yourself of age."

Despite the fact that he was completely serious, she laughed. She couldn't help it. She was happy she was already leaning on him, lest she fall down without his support. "I won't plan on it, okay?" She giggled out, showing him a genuine smile.

He nodded, lowering to the ground with her upper body in his lap.

"You seem to doubt this." He said, still sounding serious.

"Hm?" She looked up at him, her airy mood prevailing still. "What am I doubting?"

"Us."

He said the word as if it were particularly weighty.

"Well..." She was forced away from being a goof, relaxing her head back so she could see his head outlined against the sky. "Of course I doubt it. Being with someone... is all about making yourself completely vulnerable. They get to know _everything_ about you. The good, the bad, your talents, your faults... don't you sometimes worry that I'll find something out about you that will just repulse me and make me run away?"

He looked down at her, one of his hands absently petting her hair. "You don't run away."

She laughed. "True. I guess that was a bad example. My point is, being in a relationship... like the one we find ourselves in, is about being yourself with someone else. When that someone else learns enough about you, they might decide they don't like who you are. And... and if you commit to them before that point, things get complicated. You're stuck with someone who has every weapon against you because they know everything." She frowned heavily. "Exposing myself like that... in my head it just doesn't make sense."

"You know so much..." He stated with curiosity in his voice. She felt like damning his curiosity, since it drove him to an assumption instead of a question... and he was right. "I think your heart is wounded too."

"My need for independence is not a wound." She snorted. "It's a scar."

There was silence. Gaara knew where her scars came from. They had already established before that their pasts were the same, on two different levels. Children had been cruel to them, the difference being where he killed, she gave black eyes.

He understood without her saying. People hurt her, no matter what, so she avoided them at all costs, forcing them away by any means. He knew that feeling.

She was wounded. What she called a scar, he saw as nothing but a scab. But one thing still remained that he didn't understand. If she was from his pain, why had she been able to heal him of his obsession with hate without healing herself? Did she believe that it was the only way for her?

Or was it... that she needed to be saved? Like he had been in need of rescue from himself?

"Loor." He called her attention softly, getting her to open her eyes again. She did it slowly, reluctantly, as if she was ready to curl up in a corner somewhere after exposing herself the way she had. When she gazed at him he pushed her to sit up and face him, taking her shoulders and pulling her into an embrace while leaning back on the ground.

She returned the hug. How he had known what she wanted, she wouldn't venture to guess. She just squeezed back and pressed her head into his shoulder.

"_Aishitaru Koishii." _He said softly.

She nodded. _"Ich libe dich also." _

It didn't matter that they spoke two different languages while proclaiming love; they understood each other.

* * *

Holy GOD I'm back. Again. XP

So school is back, and I'm actually putting an effort in so I come home every day pretty much fall-down exhausted. I also recently had my frigging head examined. (MRI, I'm surprised they didn't see Lyra in my brain, waving at them.) I've been suffering dizzy spells every freakin' time I get out of a chair, and so they want me to talk to a brain doctor to see if there's an issue with my head, though the MRI says there are no problems.

I think my head is just fine, thank you very much.

Kinda mushy chapter, sorry.

I get to go to the fun stuff soon though...

OWTF!!!

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	13. The Cat

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Thirteen- The Cat**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"You're arguing with me _now? _You were all for it when I told you about it a week ago."

"A week ago was right after the incident. Now is... well... A week later. It doesn't seem as bad."

"It only doesn't seem that bad because he _knows_ what's wrong with me. It doesn't change the fact that I'm dangerous around men."

"Only at night."

"Which is when I'm home. Thus, the change is appropriate."

"I just don't trust you not to burn the building down, _Onee-san." _

Loor gave a dutiful glare to her little sister.

"I'm not that bad of a cook."

Fury snickered, grinning as they were climbing a set of stairs. "Hey, I didn't say your cooking was bad. I'm just saying I don't trust a person who reads while cooking."

"I bet Kakashi does it too."

"Yeah, and he's reading the same damn book!" Fury gave her elder sister a light hit over the head.

"They're good books!" Loor returned the hit over the head as they mounted the top of the stairs, turning to the right and going along the walkway, passing doors on their left. "Its the only reason I'm making the effort to learn the language; so I can read those books."

"Perve." Fury muttered, shaking her head.

"Yeah, at least I don't turn red in shame every time someone asks if me and my _beau_ have had sex yet."

The younger sister promptly turned tomato color. "That's because I don't _wanna_ have sex yet. And he's willing to wait..."

"Wonderful." Loor muttered, rolling her eyes. She felt bad for bringing it up. She was still a virgin too, only she was somewhat unhappy about it.

It had been a year and several months since Naruto's departure from the village. The day itself was August twenty seventh. It was the day before Loor's birthday. Her fifteenth, to be exact.

It was also the two year anniversary of her family's death. It was on this day that Loor was moving into her own apartment among the shinobi complexes, finally leaving Lee's apartment after the... incident.

It had been a full moon.

Full moons spelled trouble for Loor. Always.

Where was Gaara in all of this?

Gaara's name was one that had become taboo around Loor, much like Sasuke's around Sakura. Where the two stood with each other was a mystery thanks to Loor's unwillingness to talk about it and the fact that Gaara just didn't talk. The red head came and went from Konoha, and during his visits he and Loor were often seen together in heated discussion... and when apart Loor acted as if the boy didn't exist.

When questioned, she'd be prone to silence.

Only Loor knew why things have turned sour, and she wasn't telling anyone anytime soon.

She actually found comfort that Gaara had been announced as Kazekage a few months ago. It gave her hope that his visits would be less.

"So..." Loor huffed slightly as they stopped walking. They had stopped at a door. Her door. "This is the place."

"You're not gonna invite me in?" Fury teased.

"I still haven't unpacked. You're not coming in unless you're helping with the work."

"Never mind!" She giggled, stepping away from the door as Loor fished a key out of her pocket.

"Alright." Loor shrugged as she pulled out her key and a copy of it. "This is for you." She said, holding out the copy.

"What for?"

"Emergencies. In case you ever need your big sister, _hai?" _

"Oh." Fury took the key gently, tucking it away. "I'll remember to knock first."

Loor glared at her, tempted to punch her but ducking the urge by beginning to walk again. "Okay. You've seen the place. Training now for me, yes?"

"Oh, you!" Fury snapped as her elder sister started pushing her. "You've been all the more eager for training since Sakura apprenticed Lady Tsunade!"

"That's because we get more attention from Kakashi Sensei now."

"You mean more _torture." _Fury groaned as the two of them started to descend the stairs to get back to the street. "I swear, that man gets to sleep by thinking up new ways to terrorize us."

"Oh, stop your whining. We don't deal with him till tomorrow."

Fury rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just in a rush to get to your taijutsu sensei."

"Hey, Lee's training is what got me through the chunnins. Without him I would have never started linking moves together to keep enemies on their backs."

"Hey, that reminds me," Fury got ahead of Loor as they left the stairs and the shinobi complexes behind, turning to walk backwards. "Did you decide to take Gai up on that other training? The gates?"

"No." Loor shook her head quickly. "It sounds cool and all... and I've seen Lee rock the territory, but I'm not interested in abilities that could possibly kill me. I just finished learning about chakra assists to make people fly when I hit them, Lee an' TenTen are teaming up on me today for some agility training with traps, and Kakashi is probably gonna have us walking that _stupid _tightrope again tomorrow. All painful, but not life threatening. That's the way I like it."

"Awe... and the whole idea of the forth gate giving a person a second wind?"

"Don't matter." Loor waved her hand. "C'mon Fury, I don't have the dedication or the attention span for something like that."

Fury turned mid-step to face forward and walk with Loor again. "True."

"What about Schizo? Kiba's been fielding you on your off days, hasn't he? Don't you guys got something today?"

"Usually yes, but Kiba wanted to take the day off so he could take the dogs to his sister for their annual check-up. Hana says that they'll get to riding size in another year."

"God those little things grew up quick." Loor snickered. "I remembered when Schizo would ride around on your head or your shoulder. Now she out weighs you by thirty pounds."

"Hey, its not my fault that I can't break 100 pounds no matter what I do!"

Loor sighed, stopping where there was a fork in the road. She would turn to go towards the woods, and Fury would probably hang out in the village while waiting around for Kiba. "Might have something to do with you being two months premature, my friend. I doubt that bone structure of yours will ever grow that big."

Fury glared, which made Loor grin. The two loved to anger each other.

"Awe, it's okay _Imoto-chan. _Guys love short women."

"Really?" The younger of the two perked up. "Why?"

"They can get to their knees faster."

Loor quickly turned and ran down the lane, ducking into the nearest alley for fear of her sister throwing sharp things after her.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama... we have a situation."

Tsunade gave a small sigh of self pity. She knew it was part of the Hokage's job to field problems and stand at the regal and caring position when someone had an issue, but it sucked hearing nothing but gripes all day. It was almost never that she heard a bit of good news, because if news was good no one said anything. Just once, she'd enjoy it if someone walked into her office to tell her all was well with the world.

She knew that'd be a cold day in hell.

So, doing her best to look like she cared, Tsunade lifted her head to see Shizune standing just inside the door, flanked by two Jonin. Shizune was wearing her chunnin vest over her usual black robe, her face set.

Something about this scene made Tsunade care a little bit more. The three people that had entered her office looked grim.

Also, Tsunade had recently bought a scratch ticket that turned up to be very lucky, winning her a large sum of money. Always a bad omen.

"What's wrong?"

One of the two Jonin that flanked Shizune stepped forward. "As you know, we keep records of scrolls with information that could be used against the Leaf Village on them. This includes blueprints of the safety bunkers, summoning contracts, and scrolls with dangerous and powerful jutsu. Consistently checking their storage places, and changing the places that they're stored, are ways that we keep them from becoming lost or stolen."

"Not one, but a few of them have gone missing." Shizune's jaw was set. "Five in total. Two maps, three heavily destructive jutsu scrolls. In the wrong hands, these could just give an enemy edge enough to invade us again."

Tsunade blinked a few times at what she was being told. She had just been told that Konoha had been stolen from. The entourage could only mean that they had no idea who took it and where the scrolls could be. Still, Tsunade had to ask. "Any ideas on where they could have gone?"

The third of the trio spoke up, stepping forward. "The collection in the Leaf's possession has become large. To do an exhaustive inventory takes a long time." He looked embarrassed. "With recent record keeping... these scrolls could have been stolen during the invasion last year."

Tsunade suddenly stood up, causing the trio of shinobi to flinch.

"You're telling me we're discovering a theft a year after it happened?"

"It is possible and probable." Shizune lowered her head. "That section of the library had been checked just before the invasion, and with how few people we have down there it takes slightly more than a year to get all the way through the library and start again."

"Dispatch more!" Tsunade snapped. "I want a full report on the inventory in two hours, and I want to know if there's any way to find where these scrolls went!"

"Ma'am, there's more." Shizune gave. One of the Jonin ran off to do what Tsunade had said, but Shizune and the other shinobi stayed.

"What?"

Shizune stepped up to the Hokage's desk, putting five scrolls on the desk and slipping the fifth one open. "We found these in the missing scrolls stead. Their places weren't left empty, someone switched these in."

Tsunade glanced down at the scroll that Shizune had slipped open. It was a wall scroll with a short haiku on it. Something that would be hung in a tea house. Tsunade skipped over the verses, looking back at Shizune. "These scrolls are common. What's the point?"

"There were traps that would have destroyed a thief, and further traps that would have destroyed the scrolls had someone tried to steal them by hand. These traps were still in place. We spent most of the morning trying to get these out without burning the evidence. That leads us to believe someone switched these in without actually entering the area."

Tsunade gave Shizune a look. Something in her memory had been tickled, and she was sure it was what Shizune was getting at.

The other Jonin with Shizune re-entered the conversation.

"We have documentation of a jutsu that had been developed in the Sound village that is capable of switching objects of the same size and mass across large distances. Our documentation states that the jutsu was not a successful project, but this situation leads us to believe that this jutsu has been perfected, and someone has used it to steal from us. That may suggest... that our scrolls have switched places with where these scrolls were once kept."

"Why would the thief leave them there?" Tsunade snapped. "Whoever stole them probably works under Orochimaru, seeing as he was the one who was developing that jutsu."

"Safe storage." Shizune offered. "Orochimaru's forces are probably still recovering from the failed invasion last year. Why would he need those scrolls yet? Why would he take them out of a safe hiding place when he doesn't need them yet? He'd count on us finding out about the theft, but we wouldn't go looking into tea houses for those scrolls. We'd assume that they're closer to him and his headquarters."

"So what?" Tsunade gave, irritated. "What if we search tea houses and it ends up that they _are _closer to him and his headquarters?"

"Then it doesn't matter. We don't know where that is. We don't have maps for most of the Field country."

"So this whole meeting is a near waste of time." The Hokage dropped herself into her chair. "All we know is that something has been stolen. Come up with a bright idea to get it back and I'll be a little more interested."

"That's just the thing, Lady Tsunade." Shizune brightened slightly. "We _do_ have an idea."

Shizune leaned over the desk again, opening the scroll the way to it's wooden center. At the bottom corner there was a stamp that indicated the artist who made the scroll. There was a name that no one cared for that took up half of the stamp, but the other half interested Tsunade a bit more.

The symbol that would appear on Sound village headbands. A singular, musical note.

"We know what region these scrolls came from. We also know they came from a teahouse. Whether this is a small teahouse owned by a tea master or a large one for the public of the upper class, all tea houses have at least one Geisha tending them. Geisha report back to their Okiya. The Okiya is connected to others, where Geisha share information with each other. They keep their own inventory, and have probably already noticed some scrolls that don't belong. They wouldn't throw them out, but they'd be wanting to know where their property went."

Tsunade was beginning to catch on. "There are teahouses in the Fire country as well as the Field country, but the two probably don't care as to friend or foe seeing as Geisha are artists. They care nothing for wars, only for their practice. We report these scrolls as found and find out where they came from, and then request to get our scrolls back. At that point one of two things will happen... they'll give ours back, or they'll pretend they don't know what we're talking about."

"What if they don't give ours back?" The Jonin questioned.

"They probably won't." Shizune sighed. "Geisha do care nothing for war, but if they are in the Sound village they won't be too apt to give anything to the Leaf village. They don't fight, but they don't want to die because they gave information to the enemy. At that point we'll have to dispatch a couple of shinobi to go undercover as Geisha, get into the teahouse in question, and take back what is ours."

"Shizune," Tsunade stood out of her chair again to give orders. "Prepare mission details and figure out who is in the village who would be able to carry out this mission. This is a snatch and grab, no fighting, so we don't need anyone high level." She then glanced at the Jonin who was standing aside. "You, take these scrolls and find out what teahouse they came from."

Both bowed. "Yes ma'am!"

Tsunade fell into her chair again as the Jonin gathered up the scrolls and left with Shizune, shutting the door to leave the Hokage alone with her thoughts.

Orochimaru just didn't know when to quit, did he?

* * *

Loor was on the flat of her back.

She was there for good reason, mind you. She was doing agility training with Lee and TenTen, which basically meant dodge all the sharp things being thrown at you or suffer bodily injury. It was simply taking a day or two to review the fundamentals, seeing as that's what Loor generally did with Gai's team when she wasn't doing one-on-one training with Lee.

The reason she was on her back was that Neji had decided to join in. When it was just Lee and TenTen Loor could jump into the woods and lose them in order to breathe for a second or two. With Neji, and his damned ability to see right through the frigging trees, she got no reprieve at all no matter how thickly she buried herself in the trees.

During a time that her lungs were burning she decided to quickly make a few shadow clones, in hopes that it would throw him and the others off. After that she scaled a tree, grabbing a branch that she planned to sit on for a few moments...

To pull herself up right under a kunai knife flying over her head.

In shock she had let go, falling to the grassy floor of the woods and staring up, panting and clutching her head, which had connected to the ground shortly after her shoulders had.

At first she saw nothing but the trees above and their leafy tops, but a moment later her vision was taking up by Neji's silhouette.

Neji was a chunnin like Loor, having been promoted at the same time. This kept their rivalry going, though it had switched in a slightly more playful yet hateful gear. They had fought against each other during the exam finals, and though Neji had won it had been a very close call. As Loor heard the story told, Neji passed out several moments after she did.

"Had enough?" He questioned, smirking at her. He had the audacity to offer his hand.

She blinked at him a few times before suddenly lifting her knees to her chest, kicking her legs up to jump her whole body a few inches off of the ground and manage her feet, standing her full height of 5'3" and glaring up at him. He was still taller, but she tried not to let it bother her that much. Everyone was taller.

"What do you think?" She returned the smirk.

"Loor, you should stop."

The blond whipped around to see Lee and TenTen coming out of the brush.

"You've been going for two hours now." TenTen stated. "You should rest before you start pulling muscles."

"Two hours?" Loor blinked. "I didn't think it'd been that long. I'd argue with you, but I gotta unpack my apartment still."

"You got your own place now?" TenTen smiled. "Congrats. I thought you were going to live with Lee forever."

Loor and Lee made quick eye contact. They both knew what had happened was a secret.

"We're getting too old to live together." Loor snickered. "Right Lee-kun?"

"_Hai." _He agreed, nodding. "Though your company is missed."

Loor rolled her eyes. "He was against me moving out."

"Do you want some help unpacking your stuff?" TenTen questioned. She and Loor were pretty good friends.

The short girl shook her head. "I'm good. It's not like I own that much. Just some clothes, my weapon... some cooking stuff." She shrugged. "But I gotta do it tonight so I can give the boxes I used back to Kiba's sister. The pups they breed like to play in them."

"Okay." TenTen's focus widened, addressing the group instead of just Loor. "If that's the case, I'm goin' home. Neji, are you going to walk with me?"

"Might as well." The white eyed boy fell in line as TenTen started walking.

Loor and Lee were left alone, and Loor started to move to head back to the shinobi complexes. Lee followed, seeing as he lived only a few doors down from her. They were going to the same place.

"You did not have to move out." He said quietly.

"The hell I didn't." Loor muttered. "Lee, we've already had this conversation."

"I know." He said softly. "I was hoping that you would change your mind... again."

She glanced at him. She knew what he was talking about, but wanted to pretend she didn't.

A few weeks ago, they had been official. Loor bent to Lee's romantic mind whenever Gaara wasn't around, and a few weeks ago she had broken. She had full on given in and said that she'd tell Gaara it was over... Loor didn't know to this day if it had been under Lyra's influence or if she had just been desperate for attention.

Then, just a week ago, Loor had gotten frisky with him... and realized she was using him.

"There's nothing to change." She sighed. "What I was doing was wrong."

He reached out for her hand. "Loor-san..."

She let him grab her hand, gently bending her fingers around his. She found herself stopping as the woods thinned, shaking her head. "Are you okay with being used? What I was doing to you? Aren't you mad that all I cared about was physical affection?"

He was quiet for a long time. "I wanted to make you smile. I felt the need to do anything to make you happy. If being your toy was one of them... I was willing."

She suddenly turned to him, still holding his hand. "But... that's so wrong! You should never let yourself be used! You need someone that's willing to give as well as take, because you're never going to take from anyone. You're a pleaser... you think you're happy as long as the other person is happy, but in a real relationship you need someone who's willing to give to you in the same way you give to them."

He shook his head, lifting the hand she was not holding and brushing her face. "I was happy. Why can you not see that?" He paused. "Please Loor, let me take you back."

She stared into his eyes, and then closed hers.

"It's over." She whispered, dropping his hand. "It's over... because it needs to be over."

"Then who will you go to?" He asked. "You already sent Gaara a letter telling him--"

"I know what I told him. I'm sure it will bring him here... he'll try to do the same thing you just did, try to talk me back into it."

"And what will you say to him?"

"I..." She shook her head. "I've had enough of this game."

She turned, walking away from him.

"I am the cat." She said for him to hear. "I walk, and live, alone."

* * *

Tee-hee. TIME SKIP! We're into the Shippuden skip now, with Naruto gone and Sasuke even further away... and now I get to play!!!

I don't really care about filler episodes that might have happened in this span of time, I don't give two shits about Sai, and you people should have foreseen that I was going to change the original Naruto story sooner or later, or I wouldn't have gone through the work of starting at the -kinda- beginning.

SO! Sai fans, I'm sorry. He's probably not appearing in this story. Unless I think up something useful for him to do. I'm a Sai fan too. Bigger Naruto fan, even bigger Gaara fan, but Sai is on my top five list.

CARLSON AND PEETERS!!!!!!!

I recently played Beyond Good and Evil again. Can you tell?

-Loor


	14. Maturity

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Fourteen- Maturity**

Loor was happy to fall into bed after she finished unpacking all of her cook wear into her apartment. She never thought just figuring out where pots and pans and dishes went could be such an annoying and frustrating task. She had quit after that, deciding that she'd handle her clothes the next morning.

Now she lay in bed. _Her_ bed. It was strange, getting used to the concept of everything in the apartment, and the apartment itself, being hers and hers alone.

It was so quiet.

"Too quiet..." She muttered to herself.

"If you dislike the silence..."

Loor groaned. She should have seen that coming. Without looking she knew that Lyra now prowled her room, probably slinking about the floor.

"You shouldn't have moved out."

Loor sighed, sitting up and looking into the inky black of her dark room. In the darkness she detected a shine that could only be Lyra's gold eyes.

"Can't you leave me alone for just one night?" She questioned as the beast crept out of the shadows and into the moonlight that illuminated the bed.

Even in the misty blue, Loor could see all that had changed about Lyra. The changes were many, having grown greater as Shukaku's life-giving chakra had infected her. Her skin was now a solid sand color, veined in purple. Her feet had grown more animal-like, and her claws seemed to be shorter but more solid. Her shaggy mane of black hair was gold at the roots, fading back to its original color, and her claws followed the same gradient.

The thing that bothered Loor was that she was bigger. Not just taller, all around a bit larger and more muscular.

"If I let you alone, I wouldn't be doing my job." Lyra's body flowed around Loor, coming around the girl to rest her head on Loor's shoulder. In the movement her body became fluid, morphing what Loor saw of her. Half remained to her right, Lyra's legs and tail laying idle. The other half grasped Loor's arm, slipping an arm around her middle and holding her as Loor leaned her head away from the one that rested upon her shoulder.

This half, the half Loor dared to see, looked like someone else.

Lyra enjoyed doing this to her, changing her form at will to mess with Loor, to tease her, to play with her.

Gaara held her, gripped her, rested upon her shoulder.

Loor screwed her eyes shut. "Just go away."

Loor cursed the second she closed her eyes, her body rushing to open them on shock reaction but being too late. With her eyes cut off, Lyra was allowed to move from the sense of sight to the sense of touch.

Loor felt it upon her lips.

At once her stomach melted, and her eyes remained shut as her body and emotions were stirred. The last image that had been impressed upon her, Gaara's face, stuck as she felt another body pressed to her. The body was decidedly male, easing her back on her bed.

Her mind told her that the lips had broken from hers, and the body pressed harder to show intent. She felt want, and saw the scene in her mind. She saw herself crumpled...

… under Gaara.

Kissing him.

Holding him.

She actually allowed the fantasy to play out for a while, not forcing her mind to realize it was nothing more than Lyra playing with her. Deep down, this is what she wanted.

Deep down, she knew that. That's why she had tried to use Lee in such a way.

But the fantasy would not continue. It ended as someone entered Loor's room, unbidden.

As they were uninvited they had entered through the window behind her bed, not through the door. Lyra was the first to realize a third party had been introduced, and quickly ceased her influence. That left Loor, laying back on her bed, ruffled and wanting.

She came to realize that Lyra had stopped, and opened her eyes slowly.

The moonlight that should have met her eyes was blocked by a person sitting on her bed; against the wall. He sat right behind her head, waiting for her mental episode to be over.

Her eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but she wasted no time in getting up from where she had laid to stand at the other side of the room, drawing the robe she wore at night closer to her body.

"Is that what she does to you?" The person on her bed asked, their voice even and controlled. "Takes advantage of your urges, and your senses?"

She blinked as she realized who sat upon her bed. The very object of her thoughts.

She became angry. "Don't you know how to knock? I'm naked under this thing."

"I saw." He didn't seem bothered by her anger, but she couldn't see his face because of the shadows moonlight created. "If I had knocked... you wouldn't have let me in."

Loor turned from him, groping for the light switch. Moonlight was romantic, mysterious. She wanted none of that. She feared she'd find him the object of her passions not only in mind but body as well. Such things could not be allowed.

She flicked the lights on, shedding yellow light on the room. She turned to look at him again, and found him not even a foot away from her. He had stood up and drawn close, close enough to look down at her from his slight height advantage.

His hands dared to hold hers, and she quickly pulled away. "I'm still mad at you." She huffed, escaping from the wall and going to her bed. It didn't need to be fixed but she straightened the blankets anyway, just trying to occupy herself. "You know you can't come around like this."

"I waited to make sure you were alone." He followed her, keeping right behind her as she left her bed and entered the main of the apartment, grabbing the box that had her clothes in it so she could put them away. He watched as she did so, and reached out to grab her shoulder. "I wouldn't do that."

"Hm?" She turned upon him, glaring. "You wouldn't, huh? Why the hell not?"

He stared at her for several moments. "You forgot, I see. You promised that you would make your decision by this time."

"What decision?" She was irritated that she couldn't remember whatever it was he was talking about.

"If you were going to come with me back to Suna."

His soft reminder stopped her from what she had been doing. She froze, shock running through her.

She had promised to decide by her fifteenth birthday.

Which was tomorrow.

Half of her mind told her to deliberate on the decision till the next morning, but the other half wanted to fight him. She wanted to yell at him, call him an idiot for still holding hope at this point, still thinking she'd come with him after what he did.

What he nearly did.

"No."

Her decision was made. She knew he had twitched, that he was confused. She could sense it.

"So... you have not seen fit to forgive me yet."

"No." She said again, forgetting her task of unpacking and sitting upon her bed to look up at him. "I told you. I'm still mad at you, and sneaking into my apartment isn't going to win you any points."

"Of course... and I imagine Lee is a factor in your decision. 'Why follow affections that no longer exist?' I believe those were your words."

"Lee?" She cocked her head and then remembered the letter she'd written him. He was right. Those were her words. Words written in desperation. "He and I... broke up a week ago."

He blinked. "Then I don't understand... where _do _your affections lie?"

She looked at him. In that one, heartbroken and longing look, he understood exactly where her affections were. This confused him more though. In the way she looked at him, he could see there was still love for him in her gaze, but she still refused him.

She lifted her legs up onto her bed, lying upon it and turning to stare at the wall. She was split on why she did this. Maybe he'd see the wall she was trying to put up and leave her alone, or maybe he'd try to help her.

She wished for both. She wanted to cry alone, but she wanted him to hold her. To comfort her.

She felt his touch at her shoulder.

"What can I do? How can I amend?"

"I don't know." She answered quietly. "It's not like you can undo the damage you did."

Her voice was bitter.

"I didn't know that was going to happen."

"You should have waited where I told you to..." She sighed. "But you came looking for me instead. If you had waited, I would have gotten back to you in time."

"It was almost moon rise. I was... getting nervous."

"You could have started on your own, or something. But you didn't..."

She trailed off.

"Do you even remember what happened?" She asked softly.

"I remember hearing the story from you while you were in the hospital afterwards."

She sighed, closing her eyes as he sat by her, his hand pressing on her shoulder to make her lay on her back, to make her look up at him.

She remembered it like it was yesterday.

Since coming to Konoha permanent Loor had taken partial responsibility for Konohamaru. He spent every other week and every weekend with her since Iruka needed weekends to grade papers. She knew Gaara was coming, and also knew the full moon had been nearly upon them. She had told him to wait for her where they usually met when he arrived, and they'd perform the steps necessary to drain Shukaku before full-moon rise.

He was supposed to wait, away from people that he might hurt if the moon rose before she got back. Where she could track him, seeing as she possessed the uncanny ability to calm Shukaku down from his blood lust.

But he didn't wait. He saw the nearing moon-rise and went looking for her.

He was taken over by Shukaku on the way there, but the raccoon kept the same mission.

Loor had been playing with Konohamaru at the time. It was a game of hide and seek. Just them, out in the woods, having fun before Kony had to go to bed.

Kony was hiding, Loor was seeking.

Shukaku found him first.

Had Loor not entered the scene a moment later, Kony would have been dead. Konohamaru didn't know who Shukaku's host was, and Loor had not told him. Kony would ask why Gaara didn't come around anymore, or why she and Gaara argued when they did see each other, but she never answered him.

Since then, Loor had been mad at Gaara. He'd come to visit her, but she'd do everything she could not to accept affection. This situation would keep coming back as her excuse, but it seemed more puny every time she used it. It seemed to matter less and less.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked.

She stared up at him, not sure of her tongue.

She looked troubled.

"How can I leave everything behind?" She asked softly. "Sure, Iruka can take care of Konohamaru for another year or two, at least till he graduates... but Fury is still here."

"I've heard her relationship has been warranting marriage."

"At fourteen?" Loor raised an eyebrow. Anger and skepticism went together well when it came to her. "They're children."

"He's fifteen and she soon will be."

"They're still children!" She snapped, sitting up and glaring. "Just like you, just like me! Why do you think everything is going to be okay every time you ask me to make a decision?"

He blinked.

She still felt too young to make decisions. She was still stuck on this.

"We are all older than you think we are."

"Well _I'm _not!"

She panted, having exerted herself in that single declaration.

"You keep telling me, every time that we talk... and I thought I'd come to understand after living here... but I can't change the fact that I feel like no matter what choice I make it's going to be the wrong one because I'm still a child."

His eyes brightened, meeting hers. In them she could have sworn she saw a prick of deviance, but he spoke before she could ask.

"You're not going to change your mind, are you?" He asked softly. "Not by conventional means."

She blinked at him, curiosity causing her angry front to drop.

Curiosity had always been a weakness of hers.

He saw his opening, and he took it.

Loor found herself in a kiss. A real kiss. Her eyes started to close, but she stopped them half-way on their descent for fear of entering Lyra-world again. She want to make sure this was real.

She lost most of her doubts as his tongue darted through and back, enticing her to become active and dominate as she usually was. Before she knew it she had taken a hold of him that reflected the desperation of a person hanging off of a cliff, at his lips and beyond them.

She felt his hand on her shoulder, and the other stroking down her thigh, and closed her eyes to give in.

The second she gave in... he pulled away. He was suddenly standing, leaving her on her bed, confused.

He smiled. "If you still believe you are childish... I shall have an adult make the decision for you."

With that he made a hop onto her bed, left a kiss upon her cheek, and dove out of the window he entered through.

She stared into her room, blinking furiously.

"A-an adult to make the decision for me...?" She asked the air. "Who's he gonna ask... Iruka?"

"It sounds like a threat to me."

Loor looked to the end of her bed, where Lyra was perched upon the tail board. She wore a smile that said she had watched and enjoyed the entire exchange.

"You hate it when power is taken from you, and he knows it." She purred while lowering her hands to the bed, her body flowing as she moved onto the mattress and sat next to Loor. "He's hoping to draw out your real answer and affections by threating to take all power of decision from you."

"He wouldn't threaten me." She muttered to herself. "He knows better."

"He also knows you love him." Lyra gave a beastly laugh. "And that withstood him attacking your adoptive cub, and then attacking you and sending you to the hospital for a few weeks."

Loor sighed. That was true. She could fight it all she wanted, but it was true.

"Gaara's uncovered more than that, though."

"What more is there?" Loor questioned, defeated.

"He found that you're still passionate for him. He gave you a physical lure, and you bit it. Not only did you bite it, you tried to drag him in after his lure." Lyra giggled, nuzzling her host before slinking to the floor, standing on her feet again and coming to her full height. The room seemed to breathe around the creature as she turned, gold eyes fixing upon Loor.

"You don't just love him... you want him. You want to physically show that he's yours, and who wouldn't? He has grown up quite nicely."

"He's fourteen!" Loor snapped. "Hardly grown-up."

"But he looks grown up, doesn't he? Taller, his hair a little longer, his body a little more filled out in all the important areas..." The beast gave a purring chuckle. "Of course, the robes of the Kazekage do help him look a little more adult."

Loor blinked. "...wait, what?"

"The robes, they're authoritative--"

"No, not that!" Loor got up from her bed, pacing the room. "Adult. He considers himself..."

Lyra caught on. "An adult. Not only that, and adult with power."

"The power to get shinobi transfered between villages... power to talk with Hokage-sama directly." She shook her head. "He's not going to ask an adult... he's going to make the decision for me."

Loor sat on her floor, putting her head in her hands.

"He's so possessive... so childish... and he considers himself an adult?! _I'm _more mature than him, and he's the frigging Kazekage!"

"No matter where you run, he'll follow you." Lyra was circling Loor, brushing her tail under the girl's chin. "But you like that, don't you? You like that he values you that much. The fact that he's willing to take you captive just makes it more interesting... you might actually like the idea, in some erotic way."

"It... it doesn't matter... he's doing this because he knows I'll fight him no matter what. He knows thats just my disposition... he must think he can help me."

"Like you helped him?"

Loor slowly removed her hands from her face, as if in shock. She looked up at her beast, her mouth slightly agape.

"Exactly."

* * *

It would seem that Gaara is still retaining some of his childish habits. XP

Don't worry, I'm not getting rid of the LoorxGaara pairing. This fic wouldn't work if I did.

You all are gonna hate the ending, but it is the sacrifice I need to make to the Gods of fanfiction if I want the ending I'm going to have. Otherwise, someone would kill me... and Loor would be a sue.

Am I being too vague? Good. I don't want you people to guess it.

**Loor owns nothing, and is very angry that the document manager isn't co-operating at the moment.**

-Loor


	15. Teahouse Trouble

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Fifteen- Teahouse Trouble**

Loor woke up on her floor. In her nearly sleepless night she had fallen off of her bed and not moved to correct it, finding the floor far cooler than her bed and slightly more comfortable. She was used to sleeping on the floor thanks to her time spent at Lee's apartment; sleeping on a bed was something she was going to take time getting used to.

At first she questioned why she was awake, as it was before dawn, but the answer came to her quickly.

Someone was knocking on her door.

She groaned, rolling to her side and groping about for her clothes, shedding the robe she'd worn to bed in the process. The dark of the room hindered her, but she eventually found what she needed and dressed the way she usually did these days; black pants and sleeveless shirt, her headband tied around her middle and her new chunnin vest worn over the top.

She dressed while tripping her way to the front door of the apartment, yawning and calling out in her usual bad attitude that came with waking up too early.

"One frigging second!"

The person stopped knocking, which meant they were either playing ding-dong-ditch or they were willing to respect her intolerance to noise.

She finished making herself look semi-decent and unlocked the door, cracking it open to look outside.

She found herself glaring.

"I don't remember telling you my apartment number."

"Lee told me."

Loor was staring at Neji.

"What the fuck do you want?" She snarled. "I thought we usually sparred after dark, not just before light."

"Hokage-sama wants to see you. I was asked to fetch you and your sister."

"Why you?"

"Because I was looking for work this morning. Errands are tedious, but even I need pocket change now and then."

"You come from a big name family." Her eyes narrowed further, suspecting this being a dream thought up by Lyra or him just taking the chance to irritate her. "Don't they have money?"

"I come from the lower branch of said family, and I'm above asking my cousin to buy new jutsu scrolls for me." He moved to the side of the door. "Shall we be going? I was told this was urgent."

"Urgent?" Loor grew sarcastic as she reached to the side of her door, grabbing Ryu and the weapon's holster. "Never got _urgent_ as a genin. I must be moving up in the world."

He didn't say anything as she came outside. She had her vest half off to get her leather holster onto her shoulders, clipping it above and below her bust line and putting her weapon on her back, getting the vest back on as Neji started leading the way.

"You know, I find it funny that you'd be willing to see me before daylight." Loor mentioned. "You know all about my little issues."

"Work is work." He didn't even turn his head to her, making a point of staying in front of her. He knew she hated that. "Though I don't believe I ever said I had a problem with your... _issues." _

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you can't figure it out you don't need to know... shorty."

She growled, trotting to get past him and giving him a quick kidney-punch as she got ahead. "Fuck off you blind bastard. I know where the Hokage building is anyway. Why don't you go get my sister?"

"I already did. I have to report if I want payment."

"Great." She huffed, putting her head down and slouching. "Have to walk the whole way there with captain jackass."

There was silence.

She glanced back. "Uh... you know I'm not _that_ pissed, right?"

"I know."

"Then where's the snappy come-back? It's first thing in the morning, you should be just as much as an ass as I am right now."

"Some people practice meditation and find themselves calm in irritating situations. You should try it."

"Nah." She shook her head, actually sinking back to walk next to him instead of ahead. "Can't hold still long enough for that."

"Too busy with your _issues?" _

"You know, I'm getting really tired of you two talking like I'm not listening."

Loor glanced back. In the darkness of pre-dawn, Lyra followed them.

"Yeah..." Loor muttered. "Something like that."

He glanced to where she was looking, but saw nothing. He didn't question, looking forward again as if he hadn't noticed her looking back. It was one thing when they messed with each other for fun, but Loor was not to be toyed with on matters relating to Lyra.

He had already learned this once. If the beast knew she'd been noticed by a third party, she'd take it as full excuse to do whatever she wanted.

Like Lee, Neji had been in a Lyra-induced incident with Loor during a time of Gaara's absence. He knew she hadn't meant to, but it had led him to avoid the girl when the world was dark.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy what happened, it was just the fact that it was wrong. She was lost and confused, and he hadn't the time for relationships at the moment.

But this morning... she seemed a little more lost than usual.

"Do you know what Hokage-sama wants?" She asked after a little while.

"She has a mission for the two of you... I didn't see the scrolls, but I heard her mention that you have to prepare. Not your sister, just you."

"Prepare?" Loor looked up as they neared the Hokage building. It seemed to loom. "What could she possibly have in store?"

"No idea." He stopped as they passed the wall that went around the Hokage estate. First light was starting to creep, which made Loor visibly relax. "Tell Shizune I'm out here if you bump into her."

"She the one who sent you?" Loor snickered. "Damn woman is too busy for her own good when she has to pay others to get them to fetch people."

Neji smirked. He said nothing, just smirking.

Loor gave him a slight nod, and went to the stairs that went to the upper floor of the Hokage building.

* * *

"You're kidding... right?"

"I don't joke about missions, you two know that."

"But... impersonating Geisha? Isn't there a law against that?"

"You're not impersonating actual people, so no, Fury. But I am sending you two into enemy territory... if you mess this up, you're likely to be killed or captured."

Loor and Fury stood at attention before Tsunade's desk, both in somewhat of a shock.

"But why?" Loor questioned.

"The situation is this." The Hokage strode in front of her desk, walking back and forth in front of it. "After an extensive search we've found a grand total of ten of our valuable scrolls missing. They're not worth money, but they have dangerous jutsu and maps of critical locations in the village. In the wrong hands... they could mean victory over us for any enemy army. They've been stolen in a way that makes us think that Orochimaru has them... because other scrolls were left in their stead and all the traps designed to protect them were not triggered."

"The swapping jutsu he was working on." Loor put in. "The one that led him to our home."

"Exactly." Tsunade stopped walking, sitting on her desk and rubbing her temples. "We've confirmed where the other scrolls came from, and believe our scrolls are there... hiding in a safe place till our old friend Orochimaru next decides to pay us a visit. It's a teahouse in Sound territory, owned and operated by the Geisha of Yagioke Okiya."

"So you want to disguise us as two young Geisha?" Fury questioned. "But... they're so secretive. They'd weasel out an impostor in no time."

"That's where we got lucky..." Tsunade sighed. "Geisha don't care for boundaries or territory or war. Mothers, owners of Okiyas, keep in contact like village leaders. Miko, apprentices, travel around as they learn their art and preform all over the place, regardless to where they're from. The leaf village doesn't have any Okiyas. Geisha culture died out around here years ago... but the Fire country does have a few tea houses in a few of the big cities. I've actually met one of the mothers. I bent her ear to our cause... and she's willing to help us."

"How?" Loor snapped. "It don't matter if you dress Fury and I up real pretty, I for one don't know squat about these people."

"Simple." Fury said, which made both women in the room look at her. "One of us poses as a Miko, the other a Geisha. We learn just enough to blend in, and then get sent to the Yagioke Okiya as a traveling apprentice and master. The Miko performs for a few nights in a row, allowing enough time for the Geisha to sneak into scroll storage and take back what is ours."

"Close." Tsunade smiled. "Though I'm impressed. You know a thing our two about them, huh?"

"I read a book." Fury shrugged.

"Well... that is the plan for the most part. Fury, we've decided that since you look younger than Loor you'll be the Miko, which means Loor will be the master Geisha. The mother I know will take you into her Okiya and teach you what you need to know about walking, sitting, standing, edict, and so on. Fury, you'll learn to dance so you can perform. Loor, Geisha generally don't dance... you'll probably be taught an instrument like the shamisen."

"So... what did Fury miss?" Loor asked. "It sounds like she hit it right on the head."

"Those scrolls..." Tsunade sighed. "There's no way you could smuggle them out without being noticed. When you find them, you are to destroy them on sight. I don't care how, but once you've gotten rid of them for good you both will get the hell out of there. Once again... you're going to have to figure out how on your own, because we won't be able to find you till you cross the border back into the Fire country."

"Great." Loor muttered. "So its a hit and run while wearing dress-up clothes."

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Fury asked.

Tsunade got off of her desk, glancing at Loor.

"Fury... you seem to know Geisha tradition pretty well." Tsunade seemed to be dodging the question. "Does the word _mizuwage_ mean anything to you?"

Loor cocked her head, confused, as Fury blushed.

"Y-yeah." Fury stuttered. "It refers to..." She trailed off, glancing at Loor. "Oh God... it refers to a Miko's virginity. When a Miko becomes a Geisha, her _mizuwage_ is auctioned off to rich men. The money goes to the Okiya, and the Okiya buys her a kimono for her to start her adult life with. The more money, the finer the kimono, which is why a Miko travels and performs. The more bidders in the auction, the more money she's likely to get. Its the one time in a Geisha's life she's supposed to have sex."

Loor snapped a look to Fury, and then to Tsunade, who was looking gravely at her. "Whoa! You _gotta_ be joking! They're not gonna check, right??"

"You're very young." Tsunade sighed. "It's likely they will check to see that you're legitimate."

"But..." Loor shook her head. "You don't get it... this is like... the worst time for this to happen! I don't have anyone!"

"What?" Fury questioned. "You've got Gaara on a string, and he's in town."

"I'm still mad at him!" Loor glared at Fury for bringing the redhead up. "And it'd be confusing to Lee... this... this is bad." She turned to Tsunade. "Isn't there someone else?"

Tsunade shook her head. "You seem to forget we were invaded a year and some ago, kid. I needed a pair I knew would get along and plan together, and you two came to the top of my list. I would send Sakura and TenTen, but Sakura is still emotional about Sasuke. She's likely to abandon the mission once she's in the area to go looking for him."

Loor glanced in despair from Fury to the Hokage, but finally folded. "How long do we have to get ready?"

"Two days."

"Two days?!" Loor was brought to yelling again. "What do you take me for, a street corner whore??"

"You are a shinobi." Tsunade said coldly. "And you will do as you are told."

* * *

_Thap, tap-tap._

_Thap, tap-tap._

_Thap, tap-tap._

Loor was kicking a rock as she left the Hokage building. She did so alone, having waited to make sure Fury was gone before she made her own way home. She had an intense wish to walk alone.

Just thinking about what Tsunade had told her to do was...

She kicked the rock again, focusing on it.

_Thap, tap-tap._

Orders were orders no matter how strange the situation was. Thanks to Geisha tradition, she had to get laid.

This mission was ridiculous.

_Thap, tap-tap-tap._

Loor looked down at the rock she had kicked, almost disturbed that it had bounced three times instead of twice. The rock, a cheery yellow in the sunlight of the morning, seemed to spite her angry mood.

She drew her leg back, giving it a good kick to send it away from her, down the street.

Ahead of her, it struck someone on its arc back to earth.

"I take it that you're not happy, Loor"

Neji had caught the rock as it bounced off of his head.

_Oops..._ Loor stared for a moment. _One kick too many._

He had stopped, seemingly waiting for her. She sighed, taking her angry slouch again and walking up to him. He started walking with her, noting her posture and smirking.

"Destiny being unkind to you?" He questioned, knowing the very mention of fate was a good way to make her blow her top.

"Shut up tall person!" She growled, not turning her head but looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice sarcastic instead of caring.

"What do you care?" She snapped. "And why the hell are you following me?"

He turned his gaze to her, lifting the hand he had caught the rock with and dropping it onto her head, his smirk nearly turning into a grin. "Mainly for entertainment, shorty."

She restrained her urge to smack him. "You're pushing it..."

"I see you have a mission scroll. Tsunade give you something that irked you?"

"Ever think it could be _you_ that irks me?"

"I'll either hear about it now or tomorrow when you train with Lee again. I'd rather hear it when Lee isn't around. You tend it edit things for his sake."

"Neither of you will be hearing this one. Its none of your business."

She looked at the scroll she was carrying in her hand.

_Stupid mission. _

"That private...?" He was truly curious. "Sounds like the type of information I'd _fight _for."

She suddenly brightened from her gloomy mood. It was like putting a treat in front of a dog's nose. Neji gained a smug look that would have sang out the words 'so predictable.'

"Neji, I make you a deal." Loor gave, bouncy. "You and I go at it again. I win, you leave me the hell alone. You win, I'll let you have a look-see at my scroll and ask all the questions you want."

"The usual time and place?" He asked.

She punched a fist into the air, practically letting out a cry of joy. "Oh hell yeah! You're going down!"

"I doubt it, shorty..."

* * *

MOOOOOOO!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Loor had sugar. Can you tell? I'M SO HAPPY TO FINALLY GET TO THIS PART OF THE STORY! This mission, this story arc, this frigging fight with Neji has been planned since DAY FREAKIN ONE of this story. I'm so happy to get here it's not even funny!

And now I have to go work on Three Ring Circus so I can update it...

Stupid rotation.

I will return!

Eventually....

**I own nothing!**

-Loor


	16. Friend or Foe

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Sixteen- Friend or Foe**

"Not going today?"

Loor nodded slowly, frowning. "Yeah... tell Kakashi I'm not feeling too hot or something. I don't care what he has for us today, I'm just not up for it."

Loor had been walking the streets since her encounter with Neji. She knew she was supposed to go train, but her mind was far too consumed with the issue at hand. She had two days... to... she kept shaking the actual thought out of her head, pondering how she would approach someone without stimulating emotional attachment.

While pondering, she'd run into Sakura, who at once asked if Loor wanted to race to the training field, since that was where the pink haired wonder was going.

Which is what brought about the current conversation.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, looking genuinely concerned. "Something on your mind?"

"Tad bit of an understatement." Loor muttered.

"Well, c'mon and walk with me. You can tell Kakashi yourself."

Loor knew that meant Sakura wasn't letting her get away with not showing up. If Loor went and talked to Kakashi he'd ask what was wrong, and if Loor didn't give the honest answer, and he always knew, she'd be stuck training anyway.

And she wasn't telling her sensei about _this._

"So what's wrong?" Sakura asked again, a tad bit more pressing this time.

Loor looked lazily at Sakura. She was another person who had grown up quite a bit in the last year. She was taller, but then again who wasn't? She had kept her short cut of hair, which was just fine since it looked good on her, and had gotten substantially stronger.

Sakura was another chunnin graduate at the last set of exams. Since apprenticing the Lady Hokage herself the girl had become strong and useful.

"I got a mission." Loor finally sighed. "Me and Fury... we'll be leaving in two days."

"Two days?" Sakura looked a little shocked. "That's out of the blue... I didn't hear any of this from Tsunade-sama."

"Yeah... Not surprised. It's not exactly dangerous but it is a hush-hush type thing. I doubt that it's going to be reaching a lot of ears, even when we come back."

"Awe... that's tough. I've done a few where it was all sorts of work, but no one knew about it so it wasn't all that appreciated."

"I don't mind the lack of appreciation. The less strangers that run up and clap me on the shoulder, the better."

"Then what's the problem, other than the short prep time?"

Again, Loor studied Sakura. The two had formed a relationship that sort of stood in place for their old relationship with Naruto. Loor got Sakura to have fun once in a while, even if it was against the rules, and Sakura made Loor think at her less rational moments. It made it so they got along for the most part, but Loor studied her at the moment with one question in mind.

Could she trust Sakura?

The answer was no in Loor's mind. Her trust was hard earned, and not even Fury had full confidence.

"I don't really wanna talk about it."

Loor turned her nose down the road, feeling Sakura's lingering gaze. The pink haired girl stared at her for a while, but eventually looked forward as well.

"I heard Gaara was in the village." Sakura mentioned offhandedly.

"Did you now?" Loor didn't bother to hide her hard tone that meant to show lack of interest.

"He and Lady Hokage have engaged in some sort of negotiation... She won't tell me a word of it."

"Have you tried asking Shizune? The girl is so frantically busy that if you ask her a question in the right tone she's sure to answer you."

"Don't you think that's the first thing I did?" Sakura snorted. "She doesn't know anything either. She didn't even know the Kazekage was here."

Loor felt more comfortable when Gaara was referred to by his formal title. She could pretend they were talking about some faceless figure of power, not someone she was trying to avoid for reasons she herself didn't even know.

"Isn't he staying in the Hokage building? You'd think Shizune would have arranged that."

"Unless he isn't."

The two girls turned to see they'd been joined by a third party.

Fury walked behind them, Schizo at her side.

Loor stopped suddenly, staring at Fury. Sakura fringed on stopping as well, but Fury gave her a nod that told her to go ahead.

The sisters were left alone in the street as the pink haired wonder left. Loor's face was ice as she stared upon her adoptive sibling.

"How did he find my apartment last night?" Loor asked, seeming to already know.

Fury actually smirked. "No idea... not that he already knew where I lived, and not that him and Kiba are almost what you might call friends, but I happened to see him last night and might've let your apartment number slip."

"And why, pray tell why, would you do _that_?"

Loor's words were hostile, her eyes sharp.

"He's good for you."

"He nearly killed Konohamaru, and then turned around and hospitalized me."

"And you blame him, when Shukaku is obviously at fault?" Fury shook her head, continuing on while scratching Schizo behind the ears. "You're fighting him because you're scared."

Loor stood there, watching Fury walk off. She didn't know what to say, Fury's last statement punctuated in her mind.

Fury had grown up too. Now and then, she did give out such absolute sentences.

The only thing Loor could do was lash out.

"Give me back my key."

Fury tripped to a stop, turning around just a little too quickly.

"Uh... what? Why?"

Loor sighed, shaking her head. "You just answered your own question. You already handed it off, didn't you? Figured you might as well give him the means to walk right into my home, rather than break in. I'll tell you now that he didn't use it. Came in through the window."

"W-wha?" The younger sibling looked a little confused, and then colored up. "But... he..."

"What? He assured you that he'd convince me that all was well and I wouldn't be mad?" Loor turned on her heel. "You know what, screw this, screw you, and screw the fact that I couldn't trust you with a fucking key."

"Why are you so hellbent on this, Loor?? Why can't you just accept that you still love the guy, regardless of what he did? Isn't that what love is all about? Being unconditional? He still loves you, no matter how difficult you decide to be! Can't you let _someone_ into that big complex brain of yours, or are you so scared that they're gonna find out everything you don't want the world to see?"

"What do you care?" Loor turned her head slightly to look back. "You got your boy... you found someone, and that's wonderful for you. But I don't... I don't _need_ anyone."

"That doesn't mean you're not allowed to want someone. Wanting someone in your life doesn't mean you need someone."

Loor looked down, and started to walk.

"What about training?" Fury asked.

"Tell Kakashi I'm sick... sick with questions."

"Can I quote you on that?"

"Yeah... knock yourself out."

* * *

It had taken Loor forever to find a place in the village where she could be alone. The streets were a beehive, and young academy students liked to hang out on the rooftops. She didn't want to go to the woods for fear of running into her team, so she found escape in the last place she could think of.

Her home.

She returned to her apartment and busied herself putting away the last of her things. Why not? It was mindless work that let her think.

And there was so very much to think about. She wasn't sure where to start, because when she tried to think upon one issue another distracted her. She would try and concentrate on the challenge she'd made with Neji, and she'd think about her upcoming mission. She'd turn her attention to her mission, and Gaara would creep in on her thoughts. She kept turning in circles and she was getting nowhere.

Sometimes she wished for the night to creep in and bring Lyra with it. At least then she'd have someone to argue with who couldn't tell her secrets.

After finishing the unpacking process she took the empty boxes and walked over to the Inuzuka residence to return them. Hana was happy to get them back, and Loor turned to home again.

She got there, took off her shoes, entered her kitchen...

And found her sensei sitting at her table.

"You really know how to ruin a good surprise, birthday girl."

Loor had forgotten about that during that morning's briefing. She was fifteen today.

"I've had one too many so far." She glared at him. "Who's handling Fury and Sakura?"

"They can handle themselves. I put them on my new obstacle course... I had figured to leave your present on the path for you to find, but you had to decide not to feel well today." He gave her a look with his one visible eye. "That _is_ why you didn't come in, right?"

"If that's what you were told." She said, finally entering the dwelling, walking past him to the fridge to look busy. "If you're miffed about your gift you can just leave it on the table and go."

"The gift is really more of an excuse."

She gave a sigh. She expected as much. "I take it I'm about to get a lecture?" She asked while sticking her head into the refrigerator.

"I heard about your mission."

"Fury told you?"

"Shizune was kind enough to stop by... it's a tough task that Tsunade's given you. With your background... it's asking a lot."

"Yeah, so what?" She snorted at the silver haired sensei. "Are you here to give me a list of singles or are you gonna get the hell out?"

He shook his head, getting up and placing something on the table. "I'm here to tell you... to pick your next move carefully. You're going to remember this day for the rest of your life... either in regret or pride."

Loor turned around as Kakashi walked to the door, noting the present on the table. It was wrapped in green without a ribbon, the two katakana symbols that made up her name on the front. She slowly picked it up, ripping the foil with no grace at all to reveal...

"Sensei..." She managed a small smile at the orange book. "I was saving my money for the next one."

"Well... let a gift give. Spend it on someone else."

"I haven't finished Make-Out Paradise yet." She admitted while unwrapping the book the rest of the way, the title reading 'Make-Out Violence'. She was still quite the slow reader. She occasionally had to seek someone out and ask them what a symbol meant. "Is the second one any good?"

"Better than the first." Kakashi had turned, no longer looking like he was going to leave. "Does this mean you're willing to talk to me now?"

"What's to talk about?" She questioned. "Any way I go, this is all one big no-win situation."

"I only have one word of advice, really."

"Only one?" She faked skepticism, showing that some of her humor was back. "You're losing your touch."

He shook his head at her, as if he was disappointed that she was making light of this now. "Please, try to listen for once... foes are better than friends. There's nothing left after the fact. It's just another reason to dislike them, another word to throw out in argument. Do not pick someone you could fall in love with, unless, that is..." His voice turned sly. "You're already in love with them."

She blinked at him. "That's all?"

"That's all."

She waved him off. "Thanks for the book."

She watched him leave and then put the book back down on her table, sighing softly.

"Foes are better than friends?" She questioned to herself. "What the hell am I supposed to say? 'Yeah, you hate me, wanna get laid tonight?' Yeah freakin' right sensei."

There was silence, and Loor wished that there wasn't.

"Don't pick someone you could fall in love with..." She muttered, her brain mired in uncertainty. "Unless you're already there..." She snorted, shaking her head like a horse with a fly on it's face.

She couldn't. She just couldn't. She couldn't go to Gaara. It would be the final statement that she was at fault. It would put her wide open, vulnerable again.

Vulnerable to get stabbed in the back.

"No..." She muttered to herself. "He... he needs to come to me. He needs to apologize."

Those were the only words he hadn't said after what happened with Konohamaru. Never once had he said he was sorry. She at once cleaved to this fact, deciding that this was the reason she herself was yet to forgive him. It proved she was a fool, but she found that if she used this device, all would be forgiven and forgotten.

He just had to apologize.

He just had to come to her.

"Till then..." She sighed, turning to her room. "He is nothing."

* * *

BO-YAH! I'm back, as you can see. Three chapters this time, and I'm working on the next set for TRC so I can get back to this one real quick because this whole story arc has been planned since the beginning of EVERYTHING.

I might have already said that... BUT I'M SO HAPPY TO FINALLY GET TO IT!!!!

Yay.

**No ownage.**

ONWARD!!!

-Loor


	17. Orders

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Seventeen- Orders**

"There. That's all the necessary paperwork..." Tsunade said this while rolling a scroll she had been writing upon, sealing it properly. "This is very forward of you... I imagine she's not going to be happy with the news."

She held the scroll out, the hand receiving it belonging to none other than Gaara himself.

"I warned her." He said simply. "A year and some ago..."

"Likely she's forgotten by now." Tsunade got up, shrugging at a knot that had formed in her shoulders. "But she'll be your village's problem after her mission. That's one explosion of her temper I don't want to see... Maybe I can get one of the new jonin to give her the news."

"I'll tell her." His voice was once again simple, absolute, putting the scroll away. "I can handle her better."

Tsunade shook her head, sighing softly and leading the way to the door. The Kazekage followed her, and she held the door for him. "You do realize... the mission she's going on... I'm surprised she hasn't come to you yet."

"I don't expect her to." He passed the door, walking down the hall, the Hokage at his side. Night had come and the moon had risen long ago. Bright beams came through the windows that were set high in the hall way. "She expects something of me... I fear I'll spend the rest of my life finding out what it is."

"Hmm..." Tsunade mused. "I'd suggest you figure out what she wants before you try to tell her that I just sold her to your village. She'd try to kill you, and then she'd come and try and take me out."

"You know her temper." Gaara's eyes glowed in the dark patches between the moonlight, as if his icy hues carried the light from one patch to the next. "I'm surprised you were even willing to consider it."

Tsunade shrugged. "You're good for her... just like she's good for you."

They stopped where the hall opened up to the outside. Gaara turned to face Tsunade and gave a formal bow. Tsunade returned it, and Gaara turned to the moonlight.

He knew where Loor had gone. He knew about the fight she had challenged Neji to.

He knew it was very likely that Neji would end up breaking her. The two were evenly matched, and with her mind shattered in the way it was... he would either find out about her mission fairly or by slight of hand.

Shukaku only added to the angry jealousy that Gaara felt to these possible events, but he had no choice at this point but to stand by and watch.

He advanced down the stairs outside, sighing. Yes, he could break in. That was a choice that Shukaku wanted him to make, but he knew better.

Loor didn't want him. Not now.

He reached into his robe to touch the scroll he had tucked in against his chest. It stated that Loor, as a shinobi, had been sold to Suna. After her current mission she would report to the Kazekage.

She would report to him.

He felt possessive. She would belong to him... in a material sense. He knew that as a shinobi he could command her to do anything now, and penalize her if she refused, but he also knew she was a free spirit.

No. He owned nothing. The deed he held was not to her life, just where she lived it.

He left the Hokage building behind.

He had to be there when she realized she had erred in not giving in to him.

* * *

Loor was pacing.

She couldn't help it. She had been so messed up in her head that she'd actually shown up early to where she and Neji usually sparred. In her brain, she was cursing herself.

_I'm a damned idiot! What was I thinking, challenging him over this? Last time we fought, he won! By the skin of his teeth... but he still won. He's been on more missions recently too. I'm rusty... there's no way I can do this..._

"So negative..."

Loor glanced up, not ceasing her constant walk up and down the clearing. Lyra was lounged in the trees, tail hanging down and swaying this way and that. "You got another way to think about this?" Loor snapped.

Lyra gave one of her evil giggles. "Of course I do. Think about what your sensei told you, my friend. Foes are better than friends."

Loor froze. She actually stopped walking, and turned to look up at Lyra. "Are. You. NUTS?!" She yelped, some irony in the fact that she was yelling at a creature that lived in her mind.

"What's wrong with him?" Lyra turned in her lounging spot, gracefully jumping to the ground and grinning. "You yourself have admitted he's good looking... better with age if you ask me."

Loor shuddered, turning her back to her beast. "Not Neji. I... no."

Lyra giggled again, and Loor felt her hands on her shoulders, sliding down her arms as the beast rested her head next to Loor's. "Just think about it for a moment..." Lyra advised. "No emotional attachment..." She nuzzled under Loor's jaw, her fangs tickling the girl's neck. "Nothing. Just close your eyes a moment... imagine... what it would be like to kiss an enemy? Taste a foe?"

Loor shook her head, knowing better than to close her eyes. She knew so much better than that.

"Please?" Lyra asked in her honeyed tones. "Just once... I promise I won't do too much..."

"Your promises don't warrant much trust..." Loor sighed, allowing her eyes to close.

At once she wished she had not. In seconds she was swept up in sensation. There was the sensation of lips, silky black hair between her fingers, the feeling of her bare chest on someone else's...

She came out of the vision with a shock, shaking her head.

"Damn it Lyra!" She shouted out, turning as if to swipe at the beast and getting nothing but air.

"Talking to yourself again?"

Loor whipped about once more, seeing that Neji had arrived. He wore a loose outfit that almost made her think of pjs. Still very regal, loose black pants with an open top lying over it, tied in black at the hips, long sleeves covering his hands.

Loor blinked twice, her brain still muddled in what Lyra had just had her feel, and became momentarily distracted by Neji's bare chest.

He cocked his head to the side at the lack of her usual snappy reply, noting that she'd come to this spar in her old green coat in lieu of her chunnin vest. She'd tied it at the waist with her headband, but the main thing he noticed about her outfitting was that she had brought Ryu with her.

Moments later he noted her red face and vacant stare.

"Is something wrong with you?" He questioned, walking up to her and leaning down to see her eye to eye. "You're flushed up."

She blinked several more times before shaking her head and growling in his face, making him back off. "I'm just fine!" She snapped. "Are we gonna do this or what?"

He continued to give her a befuddled look before shrugging. "Do you have the scroll?" He asked, arrogance in his voice showing that he was sure of beating her.

She rolled her eyes, reaching into the top of her coat and pulling it out to show him. "Right here." She confirmed while dropping it back in, the headband at her middle keeping it from falling out the bottom. "You don't even have a weapon's pouch with you." She noted with a narrowing gaze. "Are you even taking this seriously?"

"I never take you seriously."

Loor and Neji squared off, ready to fight... and completely unaware of who was nearby.

Away, behind a tree, close enough to hear but not close enough to see, was Gaara.

_He should take her seriously... _He thought quietly to himself. _Lest she make him do so someday. _

_**What are you doing, standing here?**_

Shukaku's voice was an unwelcome happening, but something Gaara knew could not be avoided. He didn't move, speak, or even think, in hope that the beast would leave him be if ignored.

It was something he knew not to work, but he always found it better not to rise to Shukaku's first prod.

_**You could offer what she needs... or better yet, simply take what you want and solve her needs at the same time.**_

_She doesn't want me..._ Gaara shook his head, looking sorrowfully at the ground. Primal possessiveness made him want to interfere with this situation, but once again he knew better. She would not be talked into it, cajoled, or otherwise. If he tried he would fail, and forcing her would have consequence enough.

The action he had already taken would have consequence enough if he could not come to understand what she wanted from him.

_**Who cares what she wants? **_At these words, Gaara felt Shukaku trying to drag him in. Their mental face-offs were less frequent, and Gaara had learned to resist. He got some satisfaction when Shukaku spoke again with a new and annoyed edge. **_You should at least care that someone is going to get to her before you... mating rights. If it were demon to demon it would be a bloodbath for a female, but you just stand here... pathetic._**

_I respect her wishes. If it were demon to demon, or otherwise, you would have forced yourself on her by now._

_**She might be a little less yappy if someone smacked her down once in a while...**_

_Enough! _Gaara exercised something of authority in his voice, his mental state having grown stronger and more mature in the past year and some.

Shukaku, on the other hand, responded to no authority. Ever.

_**What are you going to do to me?**_ Again, Gaara felt the demon trying to drag him into mental confrontation. **_I can say what I want about the human bitch, in hopes that you'll get at least one good idea. Respect, ha! If this goes on much longer I'll be taking this situation into my own paws. _**

Gaara hefted a sigh, shaking his head. _Hell take you back Shukaku, back into whatever miserable hole you crawled out of._

Gaara was sure these words would beget some sort of anger from his demon, but whatever squabble that was to come was forgotten.

Both boy and beast forgot about fighting in a split second when a cry of pain sounded from the clearing up ahead.

It took the other half of that split second for both to realize the cry of pain was male.

* * *

"You're still holding back, dammit!"

Loor spat these words while spinning away from Neji, holding Ryu out to keep Neji out of her striking range. One of the two blades was traced in blood; mirrored by a streak across Neji's chest and a bit of ripped cloth.

Neji dared to wipe sweat from his forehead. He was panting slightly, but that was from holding up this long, not actual effort.

And she knew it. She had the same type of sweat on her forehead, and same reason for breathing harder than she should have been.

He glanced down at the streak of red across his chest. It was a shallow cut. "I was waiting for you to stop holding back as well... perhaps a mite too long." He looked back at her, taking a sudden smirk. "Let's end this."

She blinked as he dashed. He was behind her.

_A blunt attack?! That's not like him!_

_**Who cares?! KILL HIM! **_

Loor jumped and put her toes to the ground to turn, Ryu arcing up as her whole body was thrown into the motion, hardly taking the time to locate her target before the stave stared it's powered path down.

Neji gave a grunt of pain. Nothing more than that. He had yelped before, but he was more startled when she tagged him across the chest.

Now, one of Ryu's hooks was buried in his shoulder, maddeningly close to his neck. She had been aiming for his head, using the swastika shaped curse seal on his forehead as a target, but he had tried to move.

Then, strange as could be, Neji chuckled, still smirking.

Loor became even more irritated. "What the hell is your problem!? You got a frigging hook in your shoulder and you're laughing!"

Neji shook his head, reaching up with the opposing arm to pull the hook out. It came loose with a sick sucking sound, blood blooming over his white shirt. "You've gotten faster... I wasn't able to dodge... if I hadn't tried to move you probably would have killed me..." He shook his head slowly, pushing the hook away and lifting his other hand.

"But I believe the problem is more yours than mine."

In his hand was her headband.

At first she blinked. Sure, the headband was valuable to her, but what did it matter in this fight? He must have untied it when he made the sudden move to get behind her...

Neji lent down to something on the ground, and it was when Loor looked that she realized why he pulled that move.

The headband had been keeping the scroll from falling out of her coat. When he took her headband, it fell out.

Neji rose back to his feet with her mission scroll in hand.

She gritted her teeth. The dirty little cheater! But she knew she had no chance of taking it. She was wearing weights, so he'd win in a race if she tried to chase him down and take it back... and if she bent down to undo them he'd know and get too much of a head start.

There was nothing she could do but look at him, defeated, as he opened the scroll to read it. He seemed to know exactly what she knew. He knew he needn't fear her once he had the scroll in hand.

"You? Pose as a Geisha?" He seemed to be containing some amusement. "You're too short... not nearly proper enough... and going into Sound territory too no less..."

She bristled at him reading it out loud. She hated it when people did that with things that belonged to her. "You dirty rotten son of a fu---"

"Temper, temper..." He teased. "What's this the Hokage has circled here?" He blinked, losing his enjoyment from needling her. At that exact second... it was no longer fun and games. "... Geisha tradition..."

There was silence.

"You should have not bet this so lightly." He said simply.

"I didn't expect to lose."

"You never do... but you deceive with your smile. I assumed it couldn't be something like _this._ Had I known... I would have fought fairly." He shook his head. "Still... the _mizuwage _tradition... I'm surprised you still have that."

She snorted. "Who would I have lost it to? Gaara was too young when we were still getting along... and Lee is... well, Lee. Even Lyra couldn't force me to go that far..." She sighed. "And now I have two days. One, really. Today is almost gone."

The silence returned.

"This is perfect."

She snapped a look at him.

"No."

He smirked at her, shifting her headband and the scroll to one hand after sliding it closed, putting pressure on the wound in his shoulder while speaking. "Why not? We hate each other... but we're both young, healthy. No emotional attachment."

"And... what about you and TenTen?" Loor questioned. Neji was aware of the girl's affections... he just considered himself without time for romance.

But apparently with time for one-night-stands.

"If such information were to reach her ears..." He shrugged. "I'm not obligated to her."

"Sure, we'll just not talk about your White Day gift from last year."

"I was just following tradition. It would have been disrespectful not to get anything."

Loor rolled her eyes. Tradition for White day was to repay people who gave gifts on Valentines day by giving them something triple the value of their gift on White Day, one week after. Neji had ignored the 'triple' part and had gone out of his way to get something very spendy. It was one hell of a way to give TenTen false hope.

"Loor..." He addressed her. "Who else were you going to go to?"

She stiffened and then deflated, caught. He was right. She was yet to think of any other options in this situation.

He walked up to her, holding out her headband and mission scroll to give back to her. He wasn't smirking anymore, serious as she was. "Discomfort is understandable... but orders are orders. I'm simply offering my assistance."

"It's not fair..." She muttered to herself. She was looking down, gently taking her things back. Her hand lingered in the air, looking up at him. He didn't seem as tall anymore.

She took a deep breath, nodding. "Go get fixed up... my place in two hours."

* * *

Tee-hee. I had to hint on a little NejiXTenten action.

For those who don't know what White Day is, Google it. That's what I did. XP

**I still don't own it. I didn't own it last chapter, I don't own it this chapter, and I won't own it next chapter. MEOW!!!**

-Loor


	18. Being Single

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Eighteen- Being Single**

When Loor got back home she was huffing out of panic. She felt like she'd been rushed into this, on a runway train called her life with no hope of a branching track or someone pulling the breaks so she could understand what was going on.

Her brain returned to one undeniable fact.

She was going to have sex with Neji.

She shuddered mentally. Not that Neji wasn't good looking, but the guy got pleasure out of pissing her off. Not making her sad, just making her angry. Without Lyra's influence she'd never think of getting down with the guy.

But with Lyra's influence... suffice to say the thought had been visited more than once.

Speaking of Lyra, Loor expected the beast to be doing a victory lap only to find her absent in both image and voice. It only made her more flustered, without even the guidance of her mind, as twisted as it was.

She jammed her eyes shut, almost in hopes of finding Lyra hiding there, sneering in victory.

She wasn't.

Loor sighed, shaking her head and opening her eyes. She had just under two hours. Her first thought was the rush through a shower. Straight out of a spar, she smelt _bad._ She didn't care that it was Neji, every thought she'd ever had about her first time didn't include smelling like a donkey.

It also didn't include being forced into the situation, but that couldn't be helped.

She was quick to hop into the shower, while the water was still cold, running on nervous energy. Still, she calmed as the water warmed, taking a few deep breaths and finding her shampoo to start rubbing into her scalp and hair.

She realized that the emotions that had been coursing through her brain not long ago had been a cut too close to fear for her liking. She wasn't going to be afraid of this.

This was... this was a challenge. A curve-ball that life decided to throw her. Like all challenges, she would meet it head on.

She would not be fearful. She would not be timid.

This would be a night she would never forget... she would rather be proud of the choice she was forced to make than regret it for the rest of her life.

She started rinsing, reaching for the conditioner. Her brain started constructing a to-do list. She bought condoms shortly after the incident with Lee, so that wasn't a worry, and she'd been on birth control since Lyra started making herself more and more of an issue.

She'd honestly been surprised on that part of medical assistance existing. Konoha seemed so primitive in some things, but was advanced in other areas. They were yet to figure out cars because villages hadn't gotten that big, but they managed condoms and birth control because they couldn't have their female agents getting pregnant.

She was in that category. She didn't have time. She was gaining in power every day with the strict training schedule she put herself through. Every day, it was one step closer.

One step closer to tracking down Orochimaru and cutting his head off. She actually had day-dreams of torturing the snake, but brought herself back to reality with the thought that if she took the time to torture him he'd probably figure out a way to get away from her or kill her.

No. She was training for a battle that would be quick.

A battle that had to be fought alone.

She found herself taking a shower for a lot longer than she had planned, scrubbing everywhere but no longer in a rush. She let her mind wander, calming down for the time being. She came out to fumble for a towel, drying her hair roughly before dragging a brush through it. She had let it grow, this past year and some. It hung at her rump, and she braided it back after brushing it.

After that she wiped the mirror and looked at herself. The first thing she saw were the scars on her face. Fifteen, and she was already starting to look like Ibiki sensei's head. First was the dent in her ribs from where Orochimaru had broken them and they hadn't set quite properly, mainly cause Loor insisted on moving throughout the healing process. Then there was the scar tissue from when her nose was broken, fighting Fury during the Sand-Sound invasion. Last was another fight with Fury, the two thin scars on the side of her face.

She looked beaten and broken if she frowned at herself, but if she flashed a smile she looked like someone who had taken a few punches and come back for more. She stuck with the smile.

Of her scars, she ignored the curse mark on her shoulder. It glared black, even against the tan she had gained from nearly constant sun. It was surrounded by the strange lines of a seal, a seal that was supposed to keep it from effecting her. She didn't put much faith in it, but the mark hadn't done anything strange in the past year, so she had to assume it worked.

She turned to leave the bathroom, her smile still pasted onto her face.

It promptly turned to confusion when she left the bathroom.

Neji had already arrived.

Loor glanced at the door. "How did you--?"

"You left it unlocked." Neji said simply. He was sitting at her table, wearing a top similar to the one had been wearing earlier. His shoulder had been patched with white bandage, though he hardly looked bothered by it. "The night nurses made quick work of me."

She stared for a moment more before she realized she was standing in front of him... in a loosely held towel.

She lost the confidence she promised herself she'd have. "Um..." She considered a hasty retreat into the bathroom. "Well... awkward, huh?"

He stood up, nodding slightly. He had that smirk again. "Indeed." He held a low tone as he approached. "You look nervous."

She felt the urge to shrink, the need to take that step back into the bathroom and lock the door. She wanted to hide in the shower and not come back out till he was gone.

She almost wished Gaara was here to protect her.

That one thought made her snap out of it. She wasn't a little girl. She was a shinobi. As... strange and disgusting as this was...

She stood tall, dropping the towel and returning the smirk.

"Yeah right."

She had to do it.

----- LEMON. CUT FOR MOM'S SAKE -----

Gaara had waited in the woods when Neji and Loor left. He knew that he had to. If he followed them... if he saw her like that... even through a window, or heard it through a door, he would not be able to restrain himself. He made sure not to move at all. He would not walk, because his instincts would lead him to where he knew he would do no good by her.

He closed his eyes, and kept them closed, till he was sure at least an hour had drained away. Even Shukaku was silent, defeated at long last over the wrong issue. In that hour there was nothing, nothing but the isolated and cold feeling Gaara carried like a stone in his chest.

He knew... if he moved, if he dared to walk, this stone would burn till he held her. Jealousy was a feeling left far behind. Anger arose, as did the need to protect her. She didn't want this, that much could have been read from her voice during the agreement she made with Neji. But he... Neji was the instigating force. He hid it under 'assistance' but the truth was that she was female.

That was all there was. She was female, and despite all her scars she was appealing. Loor didn't seem to know this, but Gaara knew that eyes would linger on her.

It was always his temptation to forcefully avert those eyes himself, but Loor always applauded him when he held back, so that is what he did.

Of course... he hadn't received this reinforcement in quite some time. There were no congratulations when she was too busy trying to ignore him for what he'd done.

But he would not fade like she wanted him to. He could not.

He took a deep breath of the night air. It had to have been another half hour, at least.

He'd wait for most of another hour. That long... surely he would not see Neji... not feel the need to kill him on sight.

Hopefully he'd never see the ebony haired boy again. As much as he tried to avoid it these days, hate was cemented into Gaara's mind.

He opened his eyes when he felt it was time. He had no way of telling the passage of time, but his senses were yet to lead him wrong. He did his best to take his time, slipping between the trees to return to the village. He took no path, knowing his way by feel alone.

The village was silent. Of course it was. Night was deep, the moon was high. The streets were wide, where he walked the center line alone.

He would take this no more. Loor had taught him human beings were not meant to be alone, as much as she hated the fact. That included him. He would not allow it for himself anymore. Her petty excuses...

He needed her to see how much he needed her.

He reached into his robes, securing the key Fury had given him in his hand. He'd use the front door this time.

He began up the stairs, thinking. He wished he knew how to speak better. He'd know what to say... but his words were seldom, much less practiced.

He reached the top of the stairs... and words were forgotten.

There, outside her door...

Neji was just on his way out. Gaara felt instant rage, but quelled it. He stared as his hands fisted and trembled, as if begging for Gaara to forget his reserve from killing for just a few seconds. But beyond that... jealousy was found again as he saw the smirk across Neji's face. The look on him was superior, smug...

And despite his intense wishes to crush Neji's face as to destroy that look forever, Gaara held himself still as if he were in bonds.

Neji was shutting the door as he left, and did so while looking up as he felt he was being watched.

His eyes met Gaara's gaze. At first it was mild surprise, but the boy then backed away from the door.

"She's yours." He said softly.

Gaara advanced while Neji went the other way. He'd take the long way around to the stairs to avoid having to pass Gaara in close quarters. And rightly so. If Neji had come close enough, Gaara would have tried to strangle him with his bare hands.

Regardless, Neji's words hastened Gaara to the door. He used the key quickly, opening the door almost with a sense of urgency. He almost feared what he would find beyond that door, but he hadn't a clue why. Neji was no more than a thief in the night, coming to take something and nothing else. But even as Gaara told himself that his fear grew for a reason unknown.

The door came open to show the empty main room of the apartment. Nothing was out of order, but that was strange. Gaara hardly remembered to shut the door as he reminded himself she had only moved in. But still... he expected the place to look lived in.

With the kitchen empty, he moved on to her bedroom.

That is where he found her. She was upon her bed, and at first he might have thought her asleep and having a nightmare. She was clutching her pillow and had a blanket clumsily strewn across her body. Where the blankets corners didn't reach, Gaara saw her nude. It was only when her shoulders shook that he realized she was sobbing, not sleeping.

He cursed himself. If only... if only he knew what she wanted. If only he could have found out, and found out before this happened. He let this happen to her. If he had just tried a little harder, asked a few more questions... maybe... no, surely this would not have happened.

He saw her, and blamed himself.

"I'm sorry."

Her head lifted with a jolt. It was a sudden movement that jarred the tears that were already in her eyes. In that instant he wanted to say it again, but didn't. He let her stare at him. She was lost, confused...

She wrapped the blanket around herself and stood up. Her knees didn't cooperate at first, but she made them stay under her. She stared at him, as if she thought he was some sort of apparition. A ghost. An illusion.

Her eyes flicked to another part of the room. She blinked, staring at the corner.

Another two tears were dislodged.

He felt the need to reach to her. One hand moved, but she snapped back to look at him, quickly catching his hand with her own.

"Please..." She shook her head. "Please don't touch me. After..." She trailed. "I just feel... so violated. I'll get over it... but right now..."

He felt the momentary thought to overpower her, but nodded and let his hand drop.

She closed her eyes, sitting upon her bed again. She looked to be thinking. He knew not to bother her, and left the room for the moment. He found her clothes in the bathroom, and brought them to her quietly.

"Gaara..." She said softly.

He looked as she opened her eyes. Blazing blue eyes, shining with the tears from a thousand confusions and frustrations. Regrets that she'd never forget for the rest of her life.

"I forgive you... it wasn't your fault..." She looked at him. "You were... just the one I blamed."

His hand moved to cup her cheek without thinking, and he managed to stop himself half-way through the motion, starting to pull back when she suddenly seized his wrist and forced him to complete the gesture.

He stared before gently sitting next to her. He made sure to secure an innocent hold on her, his hand resting on her back, the other still on her cheek where she nuzzled into it.

Such a sweet monster he loved.

"Will you come then?" He asked gently.

He didn't pressure her when she didn't speak. It was a long time before she even tried, waiting till the tears went away. It wasn't until she was breathing clearly that she answered.

"Just before all this happened... I had a thought... a thought of you saving me from all this..." She gave a rueful chuckle. "I cursed myself, not even twenty minutes ago, for that. And yet, you're here... and it's exactly what I needed." She turned to look at him. "I remember... two years ago, I was so focused on saving you... and now I don't even have the decency to let you do the same."

He blinked. These were strange words for her, and she seemed to know it.

"Yes." Was the answer she finally gave. "I keep telling myself I don't need someone... but for now, I think I can allow myself to want."

He smiled at her as she finally leaned back against him. He took a different hold around her stomach, comforted at long last.

Gone was the anger, the jealousy... in her presence he was made calm.

But he had something to tell her.

"I've already made arrangements with Lady Tsunade."

Her head gestured up gently. "Hm...?"

"Shinobi generally don't change villages upon their own power." His tone was sly, which sounded evil. "Kages make agreements, deals, trades. You were worth a lot to this village..." He lifted one hand to pull the scroll he'd gotten from Tsunade out of his robes. "Your transfer was expensive to say the least."

"Transfer? Trade?" Loor was quickly putting things together. "You _bought _me?"

He heard some of the anger that she regarded the whole idea with. He knew that the sale of human life, even in a military sense, horrified and disgusted her.

But he had been desperate. It was the only way he knew to secure her at the time.

That's why he was so surprised when she laughed.

"Jeez, _Koi," _She chuckled, using her own personal slang for the word _Koishii, _meaning loved one. "If you had waited till after all this crap went down and I came to my senses, I could have talked Tsunade into giving you a discount."

He actually snickered.

It was good to have her back.

* * *

Kehehehe....

It all looks like a happy ending, doesn't it?

But we're only on chapter 18... that means...

Yes. Loor has a diabolical plan to make everything go to shit again. Don't you worry.

**NO OWNAGE!! I don't think Cartoon Network would have been willing to air this in the filler episodes if I did own it. **

Oh yeah, a note on the cut out lemon. My mother, who edits this, can't stand to read my lemons because she thinks they're too detailed and they make her blush. **If you want to see it ****e-mail me.**** DO NOT PM ME. Go onto my profile, find my e-mail address and tell me you want to see it. Once it's done I'll e-mail it back to you copy-pasted into the body of the e-mail. **

Next time punks,

-Loor


	19. The Morning After

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Nineteen- The Morning After**

When Loor awoke, it was from a blissful dreamless sleep that was such a rarity to her she actually questioned if she'd ever been asleep in the first place. She cracked her eyes to find it just past dawn, meaning she'd get through one morning without a visit from Lyra. Warm and barely awake, she was too ready to call this a dream.

There was nothing to lure her out of bed, so she rested her eyes to go back to sleep, moving her head slightly.

She had a fleeting thought about her pillow feeling funny, when it moved and proved itself not to be a pillow at all.

She had laid her head down on someone's arm.

Her morning bliss vanished, sitting up quickly to turn and look at the person the arm was attached to.

The night before came rushing back to her. She hardly took note of the memories involving Neji, her brain going straight to when Gaara had come for her.

When he had come to be there... to catch her when she had fallen.

He wasn't asleep, of course, but lay simply next to her. His arm was still thrown out, where she had been sleeping with it under her neck all night. His eyes had been closed, relaxing, but he looked up at her as she stared down.

He said nothing at first, just staring at her. The silence was almost awkward while she tried to kick-start her brain again.

"You're still naked."

Already jammed, Loor reacted at once to look down at herself and quickly seize the blanket that had been thrown off of her when she sat up, clutching it to her chest. "Ah! Jeez, why didn't I get dressed last night?!" She snapped while casting a desperate eye for her clothes. She found them on the end of the bed, and snatched up her bra and panties before any other embarrassment could befall her.

"You..." He paused, not sure how to phrase it. "... were exhausted. You fell asleep so quickly, I thought it best not to try and wake you."

She growled at first, stretching her bra down before throwing her legs off the side of the bed, pulling her underwear on. "Exhausted... never thought I'd see the day were I'd just pass out, naked! With company no less!" She shook her head, ceasing to mutter to herself and turning back to Gaara.

Her face lost it's irritation.

"You..." She paused. "You're mad at me, I bet."

He sat up, and she noticed that he wasn't wearing the robe he had come in with, just the pants that he wore underneath. "Mad..." He shook his head. "Perhaps with jealousy. Sex... I don't understand how some can treat it lightly. Shukaku insists it is better known as a binding ritual."

"Like... claiming ownership?"

"I... did not wish to phrase it that way."

"Hey, if you go with animals that mate for life, that's basically what it is." She smiled at him. "I'm getting to be slightly more okay with the idea if it makes you feel any better. What happened last night... I was... confused. But I get it now. After all I've put you through, I should be saying sorry to you. It's not like I can make this up to you though... I mean, you only have your first time once."

He sighed, taking hold on her and pulling her over to him, his other hand pulling up the blanket once more while sitting with her, holding her.

"You have spoiled your first time..." He came to smile ever so softly. "But I will not spoil mine. I... I want you now, but that is nothing but a jealous reaction." He paused. "I will wait for you. When your mission is over, you are mine. When you come to Suna, I will claim you by Shukaku's means of the word."

"R-really?" She stammered slightly, relaxing her guard a little bit to stare at him. "I mean, I'm totally okay with doing it now, if you're worried about me still feeling violated from last night or something."

He shook his head, taking her by the chin and kissing her cheek. "This is me irritating Shukaku with a show of control. I'd like you to be proud of me... being able to control myself."

"Don't make too much of a show of it, or you'll end up irritating me too." She chuckled, reaching to her bedside to snatch up an object she had been wearing constantly during their separation; the vial of sand he'd strung on a necklace for her. For once she put it on without frowning at it, soon leaning off of the bed to find her chunnin vest, not being among the pile of clothes at the end of the bed.

He watched her as she came back up, slipping the vest on quickly before leaning over him to get her pants from the pile at the end of the bed.

"Has... Lyra gotten worse?"

"Every moon." Loor confirmed, lying on her back to pull her pants on. "Though she doesn't get powerful so quickly anymore. I think she's just growing with me now. When I train and gain some more strength, she does too. Sand in this little bottle actually goes back to the bottle after protecting me. I don't have any control over it though... I imagine she's doing it."

"You could probably take control if you wanted to."

"What need would I have for it?" She grunted slightly, sitting normally again. "I like incapacitating people, not killing them, or giving them injuries that are going to affect them for the rest of their lives. Not to mention... my fists do well enough, and Ryu when I need more."

"You could use it against Oro-"

"No."

She cut him off, her voice going suddenly cold at the mention of the man who had killed her family.

"I... I wouldn't feel right if I killed him that way. It's not enough. It can't be that easy. I will kill him... hopefully with taijutsu alone."

"...why?"

She shook her head. "It's complicated. It's my thirteen year old self that he destroyed. That little girl, that would have been happy to grow up with her family in a nice normal house in a nice normal neighborhood. To have normal teenager problems, to fight over stuff with her siblings, to argue with her parents... and he killed her. She didn't know anything about being a shinobi. She didn't have anything but the need to attack..."

She trailed off.

"I need to face him like I would have back then. I don't want to pull out the big guns unless I have to. It wouldn't be right. She's the one who lost everything. I'll let that ghost rest in peace... by letting her be the one to kill him."

"You're going into Sound territory." Gaara noted. "You might meet him on this mission."

"Hopefully not. I'm not ready for him just yet. I need a year or two more, and then I need the opportune moment. I don't want to see him or even hear of him before that. If I do... The ghost will chase him. I won't be able to stop her... and I don't want to die with the ghost just when I've found so much to live for."

"I imagine you'll have to leave that vial behind." He sounded almost worried. "Geisha don't wear such things."

"This mission sounds insane... I don't know why Tsunade assigned it to me and Fury. I mean, she said that there was a shortage of elder shinobi in the village, but why us? Why couldn't she wait for a week till someone came back?" She snorted. "I gotta parade around in a kimono and shoes I've gotta take a class to learn how to walk in... no protection at all."

"I'll remember to never give you any stealth missions."

"I'm okay with stealth, but I don't wanna wear another kimono after this unless I'm gettin' married in it."

* * *

Loor finally left her apartment, Gaara having left long before her, when she decided it was time to report to Tsunade. Now that her prerequisite task was handled she could check in and find out when they were striking off the next day. She was down the stairs and onto the main road when she noticed someone walking in front of her. It had been someone who had been on the stairs when she was on her way down, but obviously she wasn't the only person living in the complexes.

It just took her till getting to the bottom of the stairs to figure out the person was Fury, once again wearing Kiba's clothes, making her hard to recognize from the back. Loor moved to walk beside her at once, about to say hi when she noticed something.

Fury had a huge grin on her face. Usually the girl looked bored, but at the moment she had a smile that went ear to ear. It was a strange expression for her to wear unless Kiba was around, which he wasn't.

"Did you get laid or something?" Was the question Loor asked instead of saying hello.

"Huh?!" Fury snapped her head around, about to snap her hand around too so she could slap whoever had said such a thing to her, when she realized it was just her sister with her usual vulgarities. "What? No!"

"Well shit, you got a smile that's gonna spit your face wide open if it gets any bigger." Loor raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"You'll find out." Fury shrugged, looking forward again. "I really need to talk to Tsunade first. Where are you going?"

"Uh.. reporting to Tsunade." Loor chuckled at the coincidence. "Gotta let her know that... you know... got what I needed to do done and all that stuff."

"Was that you sounding sheepish? Was it that bad?"

"What..? No... it was fine. Pretty good actually. But... it felt wrong. And Gaara dropped by right after and--"

"Whoa, who'd _you_ get laid by if it wasn't Gaara?"

"... Neji."

Fury's face went blank for a second. "You.. and Neji...? Oh... ew... just ew... I'm surprised you two didn't try to kill each other at the same time like some sort of bondage fetish couple." She then blinked, shooting a sly look to Loor. "Wait... and then Gaara showed up? Did you... I mean... what happened then?"

"Well I didn't see any blood outside my apartment so I assumed Gaara let him go without killing him, and... I forgave him."

"Eh?"

"We're back together now. I mean I guess it was kinda obvious we were still... y'know..."

"Totally head over heels for each other?"

"I don't think Gaara can _be_ head over heels, but as close as he gets, yeah."

"Glad you finally decided to take notice of your own feelings for once."

"Yeah, yeah." Loor gave a small push to her sister, taking on her usual slouched walk. "We didn't get frisky. He spent the night... guess he wanted to keep an eye on me. But... he made arrangements with Tsunade..."

"Arrangements? Like what? Something changing with our treaty with Suna?"

"Technically, I'm no longer a Leaf shinobi. He _bought _me."

"He _what?"_

"Yeah. He was worried I'd never forgive him, I guess, so he made sure he'd keep me. Kinda childish, but now that I think about it, it's almost sweet."

"But... that means you'll be gone, huh? You'll have to move?"

"Yeah, right after I move into my new apartment too. Pretty sucky timing if you ask me."

"No crap." Fury shook her head as they came to the Hokage building, starting the scale the stairs that led to the second floor. "It's a pretty big change for you though... sure you'll be able to handle it?"

"I gotta." Loor sighed. "For him... he's worth it, to me anyway."

"Okay, that was weird. That was you sounding mushy, and it freaked me out."

Loor laughed as they got to the top of the stairs. "Me too. So, tell me again why you're visiting Tsunade?"

"Well I've decid—" She broke off. "Hey! I haven't told you yet. Meanie, don't do that to me."

"Damn." Loor pouted. "That trick usually works on you. You must be getting better."

"Ah, stuff it."

"Uh... Loor, Fury?"

The sisters looked up to stop right before crashing into Tsunade's assistant, Shizune. She was carrying a pile of books that almost blocked her vision, and though they looked very heavy she held them at if they weighed no more than a feather.

"Shizune!" Loor greeted at once. "Is Tsunade-sama in her office?"

"Yeah." Shizune confirmed. "She's a little busy though, so you might wanna come back later..."

"Nonsense." Loor pushed past Shizune, Tsunade's office door not far ahead. "All she does all day is paperwork."

"No, Loor!" Shizune yelped, leaning against the wall and rebalancing her books before they fell from her arms. "Please, just wait a few moments!"

"Loor!" Fury whined.

"She's not even my Kage anymore!" Loor snorted, grabbing the handle to the door to throw it open. "What's she gonna do to me, throw me out of the village?"

"She very well could punch you so you'd fly that far!" Fury yelped, going around Shizune to try and tackle Loor. "You're so hard headed!"

Loor dodged her sister, who landed on her feet and turned to drag her off of the door, but Loor had already turned the handle and pushed it wide open.

Inside, Tsunade was in a meeting with a woman. Both looked up at the door being thrown open to see Loor and Fury quarreling, but their scuffle stopped as they looked up to see the eyes that were upon them.

The woman stood as tall as Tsunade, with her black hair pulled back into a complex style deserving only of the Geisha culture, though her face was not made up past a dash of red on her lips. She wore a kimono that one would wear casually, but it seemed transformed with the way she held herself. Middle aged, her eyes were still sharp.

She held a pipe in her left hand, and put it to her lips for a quick puff before smirking. "Are these your girls, Tsunade? A little spunky to be Geisha... or even pretend Geisha."

Loor blinked. It was an Okiya mother.

Probably the one that would be protecting them.

_Shit. _

_

* * *

_

Yeah, I'm here again. I know it took forever, but I was kinda avoiding uploading these chapters because of how much editing they needed after the fact. I know, I'm lazy.

But they're here. Be happy.

**No ownage.**

Review if you want to.

-Loor


	20. Comfortable Lies

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty- Comfortable Lies**

"Loor... Fury... This is Okaa-san Saikomi. She'll be in charge of you two for two weeks. That's all the time I'm willing to give you to learn all you can before you're transported into Sound territory. In those two weeks, this woman is God. Do you understand?"

Loor and Fury stood in front of Tsunade and Saikomi, Fury's head down like a guilty child and Loor's head up and her jaw set like a defiant one. Fury nodded at once, but Loor just stared at Saikomi, matching glares with the woman's sharp eyes.

Saikomi took a puff of her pipe, not so much walking as floating over to Loor and Fury, the movement of her feet impossible to notice under her kimono. Still inhaling off of her pipe, she nearly touched noses with Loor, trying to get the girl to blink.

She didn't.

The woman went as far as to blow smoke into Loor's face, and started to cackle when Loor's face started to turn blue, showing she'd held her breath not to breath it in.

"Hard headed!" Saikomi shook her head. "So much fire in those eyes... you're quite the little bulldog. Blond hair will never do in my house though... we'll have to do something about the both of you. I never strayed from the black hair norm, and I believe the Yagioke Okiya believes in keeping the pure bred look as well..." She then turned to Fury. "And so meek, on the other half. No, I don't think we'll have any trouble with you at all... Maiko are always shy... and we can make you look younger so you'll fit in with the other girls..."

The woman paused, seeming to realize she was more musing to herself than talking to anyone. In this realization she turned to Tsunade. "Quite the pair you decided to fit me up with. I see your nickname, the Great Fool, has not lost it's bearing."

"This isn't gambling." Tsunade was very serious. "I trust these two. Loor's just not happy about wearing a kimono."

"You _sold _me!" Loor suddenly burst out. It wasn't really an issue, but hearing Tsunade trying to explain her attitude made her want to disprove the woman at once. She needed a different reason to appear so fierce, one of her own.

"With the terms the Kazekage laid down, I would have been a fool not to!" Tsunade actually smirked at her. "And tell me you disagree? I heard he spent the night with you last evening."

Saikomi chuckled, breathing smoke from her pipe out of her nose. "Most Geisha are sold into their service. It's good you know the feeling... you'll understand the others better." She shook her head. "As Tsunade said, you two are under my protection for the next two weeks... Fury, was it? Tch, that name will be no good. Come up with a simple name for yourself before tomorrow. You will be training with my girls. Most of them were sold into their situation... most from other countries. Try to copy their mood. It's best you seem like one of them."

"What about me?" Loor burst in, having no patience.

The woman rounded on Loor, glowering for a second. "Less than a bulldog than a dragon!" She spat, calming after a moment more. "Never to be forgotten... I will be teaching you directly. You're to pose as a Geisha, not a Miko, so learning to dance would be useless. You will learn how to play shamisen. I'll have you learn a simple song or two... the Fool here won't give us time for more. My girls won't see you, so you won't have need for a name till you leave."

"Once Saikomi is done with you," Tsunade broke in, "You'll be shipped by her people to the Yagioke Okiya. Try to figure out where you are so you can get back home on your own. This trip doesn't come with a return ticket. The mother of the Yagioke Okiya is Yunakomi. She used to be Saikomi's teacher. She doesn't know who you two are. She's taking you two on as a favor of her old apprentice. If she knew you two were Shinobi, this mission would be sunk. You must _never_ come out of character. I expect you to be at the Okiya for about a week."

"And you expect us to get back home on _foot? _Though Sound territory?" Loor had quite the skeptic look on her face.

"After the week alloted at the Okiya, I'm giving you two a two month window. Two months for you two to get back home. If you're not back and we haven't heard otherwise... you'll be proclaimed KIA. Sound territory isn't friendly. I figure it's more likely that you two would turn up dead before you switched sides."

"Two months?" Fury blinked. "It doesn't take three days to get to the border. Heck, it hardly takes one if you're really booking it."

"I expect complications." Tsunade shrugged. "Two months is the usual time we allow for a shinobi to come back home after any mission like this. You two can't take your clothes or any personal possessions with you. You'll be walking back home looking like two girls wearing traditional kimono. Some will assume you're entertainers, or whores. In need of supplies you might have to take up work. One must always expect delays. At the worst you could get captured."

"Captured?!" Fury went from confused to truly horrified. "Well it's great you told us how dangerous this could be before you had us sign up, huh?"

"Fury," Loor gave a look to her sister. "I doubt us getting caught, or captured. What's got you all nervy?"

Fury glanced at Saikomi, who was standing next to Tsunade's desk. "I need to speak with Tsunade-sama about my... occupation as a Shinobi."

The Okiya mother blinked for a moment before gently bowing and walking to the door. "Understood... I will occupy myself otherwise till tomorrow. We leave at dawn, girls. Don't make me wait... I'll be at the village gate."

The door shut softly as the woman left, and focus shifted to Fury again. The girl fidgeted under the gaze of her sister and her Hokage.

"I... wish to become a civilian after this mission."

Fury's words were like breaking glass in the silence. Loor blinked, and Tsunade just stared in shock.

"Why?" Was the eventual question from both of the blonds in the room.

"Well..." Fury looked at Loor first. "We both know I'm not much of a fighter. I mean, I've been getting pretty good... but I still have the reflex to say I'm sorry every time I punch someone. We're great partners, but this isn't what I wanted to do with my life. It's what _you_ wanted to do with _your_ life. I wanna be a mom. I don't wanna be out there, I wanna settle down and raise a family."

She took a breath. It didn't shake. She probably been planning this speech for a while. Her jade eyes shifted from Loor to Tsunade.

"I wouldn't be dragging Kiba out of the service. He loves it. I know he'll be just fine... but we've already decided to make things official when I come back from this mission. I know you've been short on shinobi since the invasion... but this isn't what I want anymore."

"You talk like I can stop you from retiring." Tsunade noted. "The shinobi service is completely volunteer. You're done? Alright. Forcing someone to fight is a great way to make them go running to the other side... not that I'd expect that of you. What I did expect was you and Kiba." She chuckled. "Boy took a long time to ask his mom for her old wedding kimono."

"It's good breeding at least..." Loor muttered.

Fury turned on her sister, blushing madly. "What are you talking about??"

"Well, you got one shinobi parent, and another parent that was shinobi marital. Should put out a few fighters." Loor laughed. "Just remember, all the kids you might have are gonna be half wild!"

Tsunade joined in on the teasing, jokingly rubbing her temples and sighing. "Ah... I hope you don't have too many. We'll have a village full of pranksters. And worse, they'll all be siblings!"

"Guys!" Fury whined. "Stop it!"

Tsunade laughed, turning to Loor. "I assume you also had something to report, other than you're upset about my recent sale of you."

What little happy buzz Loor got off of teasing her sister wore off at once. She set her face serious. "I... uh... managed my prerequisite task for the mission. I'd also request that the things is my apartment go into storage whilst I'm gone. I really don't care what happens to the cookware and such, but I'd like to have Ryu waiting for me. When this mission is over I assume I'll report to you before leaving off for Suna."

"We'll keep the weapon polished." Tsunade assured. "So... what happened last night?"

Loor stiffened, and then shook her head.

"Frankly, Hokage-sama," Loor came to more formal terms. "That's none of your business anymore."

* * *

"Leaving?"

This was a question Iruka asked almost in shock. Loor had come to see him, just after school hours while he was cleaning up his classroom, to tell him that she was leaving from Konoha. The news was not expected, and even less welcome.

"Got bought up." The girl answered him, shrugging.

"Wow..." Iruka put down the small pile of textbooks he'd gathered up from around the room. "I didn't know that the village was in such a position that Tsunade was making sale of shinobi to patch things."

"It ain't, but as I hear it, it was an offer that she just couldn't refuse. Maybe forgiveness of debt or something like that. Either way, I'll be gone. That means you're taking care of Kony on your own." She winced slightly, putting it so blunt. "I'm sorry to drop this on you... everything just kinda happened really fast."

"I think I can handle him. It'll probably please Ebisu to no end that you won't be taking care of him anymore... though I don't look forward to telling him that you're going." He grimaced, seeing as no one liked to be the bearer of bad news to a child.

"You'd be willing to? I'm asking a lot of you already, Iruka, to take care of him on your own."

"I've gotten used to being the bad guy every now and then... plus if he hears it from you, he'll try to make you stay... and he might have a chance of succeeding. He's gotten high marks on all of his trap tests." He chuckled, seeing as he was sure Loor's clever brain had helped Konohamaru on some of those tests.

"That's nice to hear... It's gonna be tough when I report back from my last mission though... He'll probably be waiting to jump me at the gate."

"Likely. So... your last day in Konoha... what are you going to do?"

"Probably aimlessly wander for a while... and then properly honor some old memories."

Iruka blinked at her. "You don't mean...? You're going to go back to visit them?"

"I have to. The anniversary was yesterday, but too much was going on for me to visit them then."

"It's dangerous for you to be doing that alone. You might get stuck."

"Who said I was going alone, Iruka?"

"Loor... please, never grin like that. It reminds me too much of Naruto whenever he was about to do something really evil."

"I just do it when I feel like I know something you don't."

* * *

Loor lost her smile when she got out of her meeting with Iruka. Something he had said had really struck a cord in her.

_Last day in Konoha._

She remembered the last time she thought it was going to be her final day in Konoha. Those were horrid days. Now she was at that jumping off point again... and she didn't know what to do with it. She didn't know if she should run around, saying good-byes, or take the time to play one last prank on the village.

A prank would certainly be in Naruto's spirit, but she doubted her ability to pull off a good one without him, and she feared running around saying goodbye would make her emotional.

After thinking for a while, she decided there was one thing she needed to do.

She had a loose end to tie up.

She set her feet to walk towards the woods. She knew exactly where she was going, as she had walked the way so many times a path had formed. Even as the woods rose around her there was a little dirt line that she had beat into the ground over a year's span. She watched it, trying to think.

After she did this, she had to go to her own clearing, the one by the river. She tried not to visit it too often, for fear of spoiling it's beauty with heavy feet. She found out the flowers there bloomed every few months, and she was afraid that if she tread there too often she'd kill off the new flowers before they had a chance to grow.

So she visited only when necessary.

This would be her last night in town. She considered it necessary.

Scratch that, it was the day after her birthday.

The day after her family's death day.

She prayed the flowers were in bloom.

"Loor!"

Loor was jerked out of her thoughts as she found herself at her destination. She had not been so much as greeted as she was scolded with her own name when she entered the area. With a quick look around she confirmed both Lee and Neji in the area, but neither of them were bearing down on her.

TenTen had called her out.

She didn't look happy.

"Loor!" She gave again, looking almost near tears, grabbing the girl's wrist and dragging her back up the path, away from the boys. "I need to talk to you!"

Loor blinked dumbly, looking at Lee for a hint as to what the situation was. The boy shrugged helplessly, but Loor found her answer on Neji's face.

Neji didn't look smug for once. He had a crestfallen look that said he had just said something very,_very,_ stupid, and just realized it as it left his lips.

A second later the boys vanished from Loor's view as TenTen went off the path, still dragging Loor along through the thicket till they came to a stop between two giant tree trunks. TenTen leaned on one, wiping her eyes and letting out a soft sob.

Loor didn't lean on the tree behind her back, at once putting her hand on TenTen's shoulder. "What did he say?"

She looked up with big brown eyes, her face red. "How... how did you know?"

"He looked like he regretted something that had come out of his mouth, and he don't look the spittin' type. What did he tell you?"

"I..." She sniffed, hugging herself now. "I tried to ask him out to dinner, and he said he didn't have time, but I saw him walking home last night really late, and I brought that up and asked him where he had been walking home from... and he said he had been with you, at your apartment..." her words choked off, crumpling into Loor's shoulder.

"That son of a..." Loor muttered, more for him talking about that so lightly than for him making TenTen cry. That was pretty bad too, but she still wanted to knock him for her own reasons first.

"He- he wasn't... was he? You two aren't...? Please tell me he didn't chose you over me?"

Loor bit her lip. She tried to lie less these days, but there were times when it was better than the truth.

"I have a mission I'm leaving for tomorrow. He stopped by after a spar to give me advice. That was it. C'mon, TenTen, you know I wouldn't touch that kid with a ten foot poll. He's all yours."

"But--"

"TenTen..." She soothed. "He likes you too, you know. He just don't wanna show it. It's a pride thing."

"Really?" She looked up. "Did... did he tell you that?"

"No, but I can see it. And come _on,_ the kid never misses a gift giving holiday when it comes to you, when he won't take the time to think about anyone else. I'd say that's at least the sign of a very stuck-up crush."

"What should I do?"

"He'll come off his high horse eventually." Loor assured, helping her clean her face. "Just wait. Keep gently reminding him now and then that you're interested, and when he finally comes around, you'll be the first girl on his mind. Don't be too forceful though, or you'll start annoying him."

TenTen nodded, sniffing. "You give good advice..."

"I try." She shrugged. "Now then, if you would be so kind to give me a smile to remind me that the incredibly strong weapon's master TenTen still exists, we can get back to the boys."

TenTen managed a giggle at Loor's overly blatant attempt at an ego-boost. "Mistress." She corrected.

"Ah, yes, mistress." Loor stuck her tongue out. "Let's not get caught up over semantics?"

TenTen actually managed an eye-roll before presenting a smile.

"Much better." Loor took TenTen's wrist this time, dragging her back to the clearing. When the arrived Loor was surprised to find that Neji was still there. If she had been him she would have gotten the hell out of there by now.

"Neji." Loor said his name a lot like TenTen had said hers. She let go of TenTen and, after a few steps of brisk approach, hauled off and slapped him across the face. It had been so quick he wasn't expecting it, and Loor quickly hopped back expecting retaliation as he stood straight again, a red welt forming on the side of his face.

"What the--?" He was trying to snarl while Lee tried to scold her at the same time for a cheap shot. Loor didn't listen to either, her own lecture voice coming over theirs.

"Neji!" She spat. "Word of advice, never ever, ever, _ever, _tell a girl you were at another girl's home without presenting the explanation, in good wording, _first. _Now then, I expect you to apologize to TenTen for upsetting her like that without need, but I know you got a stick too far up your ass to do so, so at least go take a walk with her or something. Buy her lunch and call it a half-ass attempt at saying sorry."

Neji had fully recovered from the shock of being hit, and was about to quip something back at Loor with a blow of his own, when TenTen rushed up and grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't even think about it. You're in enough trouble with me. You start fighting with Loor, I'll get you in trouble with Gai-sensei too."

Neji, looking cornered, glanced between the girl on his arm and the girl that had insulted him. Finally, with the most dignified huff he could manage, he glared at Loor. "Thanks for the advice." he growled, stepping away and giving a small, almost guilty, nod to TenTen.

The two left, and Loor sighed while leaning into the nearest tree.

"Okay..." Loor muttered, looking up. "Not what I came here to do."

"What... what did happen last night?" Lee questioned. He didn't look quite as emotional as TenTen, but he was certainly upset at whatever news had been exchanged with his team.

"What had to happen." She said this while sinking to sit at the base of the tree she was leaning upon. "Thanks to a stupid mission..." She trailed off, looking up at Lee.

She feared what explaining would do, seeing as in a short explanation it would come out as she used Neji... where she wasn't willing to use him. When he was fully open to being used.

"It's my first time being gone for a prolonged time on a mission." She explained away. "You guys have done it before, Neji was sparring with me that night anyway... figured I'd ask him for advice."

When telling a lie, always tell the same one.

"Neji said that... when he was leaving... he saw Gaara coming to see you."

"Guy's quite the loud mouth, ain't he?" Loor snorted. "Yeah... Gaara did come by."

"... and?"

"His village bought me."

Lee's eyes went wide. "You are leaving?"

She looked at him again, and pushed herself to her feet to go over to him. "Not forever. This isn't like the last time I was leaving Konoha. These villages are allies. You'll see me, I'm sure."

"But... you are leaving... with him."

She winced. She knew he was going to do this. She knew he was going to be upset.

It just hurt her that it was her fault.

"Lee... I wasn't treating you right. You can't get hung up on me, or you'll never be able to find another girl, and you need to find one that will treat you the way you should be treated."

"I do not want another." He said, almost whimpering. "I want you."

She closed her eyes tight, almost as if she was grimacing in pain. After a few seconds, she said what needed to be said.

"You can't have me... To be completely honest, I love you both. But... tough choices have to be made. Someone has to be mature enough to make them."

He nodded, but he was clearly tearing up. Loor wanted to make him feel better.

But this was one place where she could not lie.

She hugged him, tight as she could, as he began to sob.

"I hate doing this to you... but..."

"No." He sniffed. "Do not speak your reasons. If I knew your reasons, I would try to find flaws with them to try and bring you back... if you want this to be absolute, I should never know why you picked him over me."

She gave herself a moment to think about that before nodding, giving him one last squeeze.

"I will always be here, Loor." He said as she pulled away, his tears clearing up as he found new resolve. "I will always be your friend."

She smiled softly at him. "That's all I could possibly ask."

* * *

Yeah, a small dusting of Neji/TenTen romance.

Oh well, moving on.

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	21. Promises

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty One- Promises**

The term 'silent as the grave' is quite literal. Very few things get quieter than a dead body, under the ground. Even visitors to gravestones make a point of silence, as to show respect. With the natural silence of a graveyard, coupled with the general quiet of the night, one might think that God had just pressed one giant 'mute' button on the world.

And to herself, Loor did think that. In this darkness, she had no wish to speak, feeling as if there was a block in her throat that only allowed her breath, but not her voice.

You see, where she stood, was in front of three gravestones. She had not stood there for more than a year, but now she stared at them with tears balanced in her eyes.

Here she stood, in the night, in front of her family's graves.

Still, though her voice had been seized, another had not been.

"So... they are here?"

Loor turned her head only slightly, to look at the person accompanying her. Behind her, looking at the largest headstone, the one her parents' shared, was Gaara.

"Yeah..." She nodded slightly, her voice coming at last. "I... I make a point of seeing them on the anniversary... on my birthday. Fury and I came together last year."

He nodded slightly, backing off as he could hear sadness in her voice. She returned the nod, walking up to the head stones.

Held in her hands were the beautiful blooms of the graveflowers that regularly grew on the clearing she liked to visit so much back in Konoha. Thankfully they had been blooming, when she feared she'd miss them. She put most of them on where her parents rested, but put one flower over both her brother and her sister.

Then, she crouched, speaking quietly.

"Hey guys... its.... been a long time... I... well, I wanted to see you, of course... but... I just wanted to let you know that I think I've grown up a little in the past year... I think... I think you'd all be really proud of me. I mean... the fact that I'm still working... still trying..."

She blinked, holding back tears.

"I miss you guys... but I wanted you to meet someone... he's here... and... well, I'm sure you've seen everything. You guys probably already know how I feel about him..."

She sniffed, putting her hand on her parents' headstone.

"I'll see you guys next year, I promise... I want you to meet all of my friends, someday... They're all amazing people... year by year, I'll bring them all to see you... I promise... I won't forget about you guys..."

Slowly, in the silence, she stood up, kissing her hand and placing it on the headstone again. Then, whipping away her tears, she turned to Gaara.

"You would have liked them..." She muttered.

He nodded slightly, not truly understanding the exchange but extending his hand to her anyway.

She took it with a small smile.

It was time to go back.

* * *

"Good thing I asked you to come along, huh? If it had been just me I would have been stuck till I recovered from the chakra drain."

Gaara nodded only slightly, not letting on that the jutsu that allowed the transfer between her world and his own had taken quite the toll in his energy too. "Why do you talk to the stones?"

"The headstones...?" Loor shrugged. "It's just some comfort... I can pretend that they're listening to me... think about what kind of advice they'd give. It's funny... and sad."

There was a slight silence. Loor had felt her need for revenge renewed when she saw the headstones, having gotten Gaara to agree to help her get to her world and back for a short visit. All they had done was visit the grave and leave some flowers, but Loor still felt like she'd opened a wound.

And it burned.

She had been reminded of why she had ended up in Konoha in the first place, why she was an orphan, and why she had become a shinobi.

It was because Orochimaru had killed her family... on a whim.

Of the whole situation, that was what made her the most angry. There had been no reason that he had killed them all. They had just been there... and he murdered them.

He had taken their lives, and dramatically changed hers.

And she couldn't kill him yet.

As angry as she was, she wasn't stupid. She had challenged Orochimaru blindly the first time she met with him after her family was taken, and she ended up with broken ribs and a curse mark. If he had wanted to kill her, he could have with minimal effort. It was hardly two years ago, and he could have taken her life with ease.

But he didn't. He did worse.

He enslaved her to him.

She knew she needed to grow further in power to kill him, or even cripple him. She needed to do more.

She blinked when she felt Gaara kiss her cheek out of nowhere. At once she looked up, blinking away a sudden curiosity to simply stare for a second.

"I was frowning again, huh?"

He had a habit of showing affection when she started to look unhappy.

"C'mon... you don't mind me caging you in with me for a night, do you?" She asked, taking the lead to go back to her apartment. "I'd like you to stay, but if you wanna wander..."

"It's hardly a cage." He followed closely. "I doubt you could keep anyone prisoner there... not that I would try to leave."

"Details, details." She shook her head with a slight sigh.

She almost cursed herself for inviting him into her room for the night. Not that she could have him stay in another part of the apartment. He didn't sleep so having him over would be stupid unless she planned to cuddle him. She was basically asking if she could use him as a teddy bear for a night.

With how close he was walking, it almost felt like he was asking for some sort of cuddling. He never stood on her heels, but she could practically feel him breathing down the back of her neck like an intent hunter.

That image made her shiver, quickening her pace.

"In a hurry?" He asked offhandedly.

"Tired." She corrected curtly. "Like we were talking about... that jutsu takes a lot. I just wanna rest for tomorrow."

"I saw you shudder... but it's not cold enough to warrant that action. Did you think of something that disturbed you?"

She felt like turning suddenly and growling at him. He knew why she twitched like that sometimes. She'd explain it as her brain taking a detour, which translated into she thought of something that either aroused her or grossed her out.

The first of those two was the more common one around him.

"Don't even go there." She snorted. "You're the one that said you wanna wait till after this mission."

"True... but you are quite cute when you're agitated in that way."

She felt the urge to shoot him a glance. Was he... teasing her? She might have even heard something of a laugh in his voice! Or at least a smile. There was something in the tone that said she was entertaining him.

In silence they reached the stairs at the base of the apartment building, which she took two at a time.

It didn't gain her any ground.

Finally they arrived at her floor and she reached into one of the many pockets on her vest to get her key, stopping at her door and quickly fumbling with the lock. In her haste to try and get inside, as if that would protect her from him being a sexy jerk, she actually missed the lock a few times before she actually got the key into the hole.

He was ever present behind her, putting a hand on her hip. It was warm on her skin, slipping under her vest and resting just above her pants, his thumb rubbing across her back.

She did look at him this time, glaring. The glare was softened somewhat by an emotion not named, but grew sharper when she saw his eyes. They were composed with the rest of his face in a smug look, a look that said he knew exactly how to push her buttons, and he was enjoying it.

"You're distracting me."

"I know." He pushed gently on her hip, turning her slightly and getting in front of her. Before she knew it, her back was to the wall next to her door. Her hand, hardly hanging onto the key that was stuck in the doorknob, was taken up by his as he stood over her. "It's fun."

She blinked, feeling something of a warmth rising up in her. She didn't want to address it, but looking up into his eyes she didn't have to.

A second later she found herself pinned to the wall and kissing him, forgetting about the apartment that was not even a foot away and focusing on holding him. He felt different now, not like the younger boy she used to kiss, the smaller, more flimsy form she had tied her affections to.

No. He was taller. More solid. Mature.

She felt as if he had grown in the time she was away, grown into a fully functional young man, not a boy. But that brought the question to her mind, of what had she done in the line of growth while he was away? She still felt small, and childish.

She had wallowed in self pity, in anger, while he was away.

She had not grown at all. They were similar in size, but she almost felt shrunken under his touch, and not even worth his time. Why was he kissing her? Holding her? He was the Kazekage! He was a man with power, with a whole village to run and thousands of people to worry about.

Why in the world, why in _any_ world, was he holding on to her?

He seemed to sense her doubts, and picked her up off of the ground slightly. Enough that he no longer had to angle his head down, and though it was a small change to bring her to his level, she felt a difference.

She was no common woman to him. She was enough, proven to be enough, to be equal.

Eventually they broke apart, and she stared at him.

"... I love you..." Was all she could mutter. She could think of nothing else to say. Her thoughts of lust were still there, but she felt something far bigger here. She forgot about bodily urges as she found herself not wanting to be away from him. Ever. A permeating ache, flashing hot and cold, sat heavy in her stomach at the thought that she'd spend her the next few months of her life away from him.

In that thought, she came to kiss him again before he could say anything. This heavy stone, this ache, dulled in the wake of affection being shown, but she knew it could only be driven off for so long.

But she would hold him for as long as he'd have her. Outside her door is where they stood for a long time, speaking sweet nothings, till eventually she brought herself to detach from him and unlock the door, letting him in. Not touching him, she felt the sinking stone in her stomach again, full force. It was a pain like no other, one that made her want to crumple onto him and cry.

But she held that feeling back. She would not succumb to that.

This was not goodbye. This was farewell, and a prayer for a swift return.

But that return could never be swift enough. She closed the door, led him into her room, dressed down to her night clothes, and found him holding her again. Again, her loneliness lessened. Gently they moved, till they sat, and then lay, side by side, in arms. Whispers were no longer needed, just the need to keep close.

She curled in his grip, and committed the warm feeling of his arms to memory. This, this feeling, this safe, secure, perfect feeling. This is what would get her through the time without him.

"I don't want to go..." Were the words that left her lips as she felt herself drifting closer to sleep.

He nodded against her neck, her back against his chest, one arm over her side while the other was once again thrown out under her neck. She pressed back into his body, closing her eyes tightly.

This moment couldn't last long enough.

And going with that, it didn't last half as long as it should have.

She slept, and he held her, taking the grip of a guardian, one that protect her to the death.

* * *

That's all for now, sorry to make you all wait so long.

I'll try to be faster with the next one.

**I don't own anything!!**

-Loor


	22. Looking Forward

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Two- Looking Forward**

Gaara hadn't moved all night, lest to allow for Loor shifting about in her sleep. Even while resting she had a hard look on her face, one he had noticed took place more often than her mischievous smile. He actually found himself missing that look on her face, seeing as it was her constant shenanigans that had first brought him to be curious about her. No matter what happened, there had always been a smirk lurking in her eyes.

But now, as two years of shinobi life had passed, she had grown hard-bitten and serious.

In the night he was tempted to wake her, as if her first moments out of sleep would bring back her younger self, but he settled for playing with her hair. His personal sense of time was ticking off the moments as they passed, unsure of when she needed to be awake so she could leave on time. After debating with himself, he assumed it would be before the sun was up. The dark hour of dawn would be choice for bringing two girls into a place where they didn't belong.

Once he had made note of that to himself he closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest. It was a state closer to meditation than sleep, still very aware of the warmth nuzzled up against his chest.

His mind was still working at a million miles an hour.

Even more so, he was aware of his wish to protect her. An hour, then two, ticked by, as he tried to puzzle a way that the demonic power Shukaku had given her could somehow help her if the worst happened. It had grown, but Lyra's potential was so much smaller. Her limits were at manipulating pre-created sand, unable to create it herself.

He was very uncomfortable with the very thought of something happening to Loor. He knew she could take care of herself, but in hours alone his mind explored his heart's fears in every way, causing dark doubt to grow.

Mentally he knew that he'd have to wake her in about two hours. His puzzling time was growing short.

He had already happened by an idea, but he loathed it and didn't even know how he'd offer it to Loor, who would be much more... outward about her distaste. He had no way with words, no understanding of how he would even say such a thing.

She would know. She was a weaver of words, a charmer of minds. She spoke enough for both of them, dragging him into conversation being one of her abilities. Still, even with time to think, he had no idea what he wanted to say.

_I need to protect her... I need to help her protect herself. _

In the clutter of thoughts, he finally heard the voice he had been hoping not to hear.

_**There really is only one way... but as usual you're pussy-footing around the issue. **_

Of course, Shukaku was never a welcome advisor, but the beast didn't really care.

_That option would cost you... you'd be willing?_

They both knew what the idea was, to repeat an event that had already happened in the past. Shukaku had taken action once before, giving away some of his own power to bring something in Loor's mind to life; Lyra. In giving away a piece of his own chakra he had empowered a figment of Loor's imagination, which had been becoming more of a mania anyway.

Lyra's life had brought a particular protection upon Loor, but Lyra was also a creature with her own nature to stir up trouble... Gaara didn't want to think about what the wanna-be demon would do with more power.

_**She may be... annoying at times, but she's entertaining enough to keep alive. Couldn't cost more than another fang, even though the last one I gave away is only starting to come back now.**_

Shukaku sounded irritated that manifestations of his power took so long to return with the constant rotations of the moon. The beast hadn't seemed to be affected by the missing piece, but occasionally complained that even one piece missing could be critical in something like an assassination attempt.

But Gaara knew that Loor wouldn't want Lyra to be any stronger than she was. Lyra had gained more than Loor wanted her to have, and Gaara wouldn't wish his torment on anyone, least of all her...

But demonic possession came with its perks, like near invulnerability.

What he didn't know was how to even offer the idea for her to reject.

She shifted in his grasp, rolling to face him and nuzzling up under his chin. Distracted, he squeezed her gently with the arm he had around her middle, bowing his head to rest on hers.

This feeling... this feeling she gave him was what he had to protect. It was what he needed to survive now.

_**Sap.**_ Shukaku snorted. **_I could do it right now, while she's sleeping. No guarantee she'd sleep through it, but you wouldn't have to ask her... and she'd never know it was your idea. _**

_Don't you dare._

_**Just a suggestion.**_

Gaara sighed into her hair, feeling more tired than he usually did. He forced his mind to clear, pushing all things aside to concentrate on her.

Time passed, more time than he wanted to pass, before he allowed a single word surface in his mind.

_Fine._

Shukaku's reaction was instant, and direct. He used Gaara's contact with Loor like power lines, and for a second Gaara felt the calm of Loor's slumbering brain. He sensed a passing dream, and the dark void that she experienced while she wasn't awake, caught between being worried or angry or stressed about everything.

In that same moment, he experienced something else. It was so much like Shukaku that it almost passed under the radar, but there was something else to this feeling. It was so much more human, feeling, _feminine_.

He suddenly realized that Lyra had just brushed his psyche. And brushed was the perfect word for it, as he had a strange feeling on his face as if a cat had just dusted his nose with it's tail. The sensation of silk soft fur was there for an instant, and then gone.

And then... it was over. Gaara found himself surprised, seeing as he remembered a much more painful and lengthy experience when this had first happened.

_**This is a lot easier when you two aren't fighting me. I think Lyra was rather happy with the little gift I had for her.**_

Gaara winced as he heard Shukaku chuckling in his head, a deep and disgusting chortle that made him instantly regret what he had allowed.

Not knowing what else to do, he kissed the top of Loor's head and held her again, sighing.

This time she stirred, mumbling before moving her head and wiggling the rest of her body, her arms sliding around him signifying that she was waking up.

After a moment of silence, as Gaara had nothing to say in his sudden feeling of guilt, Loor let out a long and deep yawn...

...which ended with a high pitched squeak.

Despite himself, Gaara pulled back from her to give her a look.

She looked up groggily and returned the look. "...what?"

"You... squeaked."

She blinked a few times, suddenly turning a faint shade of pink.

"Oh...that... don't mean to... usually try not to... slips out now and then..."

He nodded, petting her hair again and holding her close.

"Any idea what time it is...?" She questioned, leaning her head up to look over him at the window. "It still looks night time dark out there..."

"Hour and some before dawn."

"Right..." She yawned again, this time without the squeak. "I can cuddle up to you some more then."

"When do you have to go?"

She was quiet for some time, wiggling this way and that as if she were looking for the warmest spot in his grip. He didn't repeat himself, pulling back slightly to let her move about.

Finally, she settled her head back on his arm so she could look him in the eyes, the rest of her body clinging to his.

"We're, Fury and I, supposed to meet the lady at the gate at dawn. I guess I'll leave when it starts to get light."

He nodded slightly, but looked away when she tried to hold his gaze.

That made Loor wake up a little. Gaara was not one to show obvious signs of something being wrong. Like his incapability with words, so had his face followed, having trouble properly expressing himself.

But in the way his icy hues hung to the very corner of his eyes, she could see shame on his face.

"Is... is something wrong?"

He closed his eyes and put his forehead against hers. When he spoke, it was in a whisper that feared detection.

"I do not want you to be harmed... I fear..."

"That I might not come back in one piece?" She actually snickered, leaning her face forward to rub her nose against his; a playful show of affection. "You know I can take care of myself. After surviving your strange version of courting, this should be cake."

She was poking fun at the beginning of their relationship, how he pretty much gave her bruises every night by grabbing her with the sand but being too curious about her to kill her with it. He knew it was a joke, but in his already guilt stricken state he felt worse.

So he responded in his usual way- silence.

"What's up with you...?" One of her hands wormed up to cup his cheek, a touch he instantly leaned into on habit, seeking comfort. "You're acting as depressed as I feel... I'm just trying not to think about it. I guess you get a lot more time to think, though... not sleeping and all."

He nodded against her hand, letting his eyes open again. He met her gaze once more, her darkness-adjusted eyes shining forest green flecks within her electric blue tone.

"I didn't like the thought of you getting hurt because I could do nothing to help."

"Yeah, just like I don't like the thought of you getting whacked while I'm gone. You're in danger too, _Kazekage-Sama. _The difference is that I'm simply walking into a dangerous situation, where you've got people actively conspiring against you. I think you're worse off."

"I also have something protecting me at all times." He reminded. "You..."

He trailed, closing his eyes again before they could betray him.

She shook her head, nuzzling under his chin once more and then hooking her chin over his shoulder, almost slipping under him while holding him. "I know... I won't go looking for trouble. I promise I'll play it safe if it makes you feel any better. No unnecessary risks, okay?"

He almost wanted to laugh at the thought of her playing anything safe, but nodded, as the thought did ease his mind a little bit.

"And..." He heard raw emotion finally leaking into her words as she continued. "...and you'll wait for me... right? You'll do better than I did...?"

He squeezed her, as if he could cut off the sound in her voice that let him know that she wanted to cry. He sensed her shame, her feelings of guilt that she had spent so much time pushing him away.

"A place will be kept for you."

She squeezed back while nodding.

He felt a drop of water that had slid off of her face land on his shoulder.

"I..." She swallowed. "I don't wanna leave either..."

He nodded, feeling connected to her again. Though the sorrow in the pit of his stomach was his own, he was sure the same feeling was affecting her, causing her to cry like this. Had he been an emotional person he might have had tears of his own, but he had known sorrow far too many times before to be brought to tears at this one event.

So he held her, absently petting her hair and keeping her close, letting her cry. He wanted to tell her not to, but he felt he had no right to say that. Loor had to keep her emotions in around so many people, the least he could do was allow her freedom from that limit.

Eventually, with a sniff, she managed herself. At first Gaara thought she had come to some sort of resolve that made her feel better, but he found that she had come upon a new pain that was too great for tears to express.

"The sun's coming up... it's time for me to go."

She gently slid from his arms, and he sat up to follow her. She dressed in her pants and her old green coat, not needing her chunnin vest or her weapon's pouch. After some deliberation she took off her leg weights, which she wore in her sleep, and stowed them under the bed.

"I asked Tsunade to hold onto my things for me." Loor mentioned. "You can move some of it, I'm sure she'll let you, but let her keep Ryu. I want it for the trip to Suna... never know what's lurking about the roads these days."

"How long will you be gone?"

"One month for the mission itself... once we're done I'm sure it won't take more than a week to get back here, but if complications arise, we got up to two months to make it back before Tsunade tells everyone the worst happened to us, lest she hears otherwise." She got up off of the bed and grabbed her headband off of her night table, tying it on while turning to face him. "Two months seems like an awful long time... I'm sure we won't take that long."

Gaara stared up at her for a moment. A new fear had grown in his heart and mind, a bleak vision of hearing a message that the worst had happened. As he looked at her he almost felt that if he let her go this vision would be truth.

She offered him a smile, and the horrific vision was banished, along with his fear. Her old confidence showed, with a spark in her eyes that showed she was ready for anything.

He stood, and she collected him in her arms for a bone crushing hug before they left the apartment.

* * *

Saikomi was waiting for them when Loor and Fury arrived. Of course, they both arrived with their respective men, which the Okiya mother instantly scolded them for. Goodbyes were hardly allowed before the older woman herded them away to a waiting transport- a horse drawn cart. The girls would ride in the back, where no one would see them in the enclosed box on wheels. Saikomi would ride in the front, an unknown man driving the two horses that would be carrying them all.

There was no time for words, only longing looks, before the doors on the back of the cart were shut, leaving Loor and Fury in darkness. Gaara and Kiba had only come for this one last goodbye, and it had just been stolen from them as the doors cut them off.

With a shudder the cart began to move.

Even in darkness, Loor could sense that Fury was nearly in tears.

"Imoto-chan?"

"I... I wasn't sure if I could stand this..." Loor heard Fury's hands groping about the dark, and Loor grabbed her so they could sit side by side, her little sister leaning on her. "That... that was horrible. We hadn't said goodbye yet... We didn't say goodbye..."

Loor tried to think. She didn't remember saying goodbye to Gaara either, but the reason for that was that this wasn't goodbye.

"You're coming back. No need for goodbye."

Fury was quiet for a moment before she asked the obvious question.

"What if we don't come back? What if we totally fail and get killed?"

Loor set her jaw as she felt the cart leave the paved entrance to the village gate, starting to bounce along the dirt and gravel road that ran outside the village to the rest of the world. "Don't say if. We do this, we come home. That's the only possibility. That's the only option."

"But--"

"No buts." Loor shook her head, leaning forward and laying on her belly on the bottom of the cart. It was nothing but hard wood, but she would rather lay than have her butt hurt at the end of the journey from sitting. She took off her coat and folded it to pad her head.

Fury was quiet for a long time before she sighed and laid next to her sister, folding her hands under her head.

"Kiba's mom is keeping Schizo for me... says she's gonna train her to help with housework and childcare... for when we get back."

Loor smiled. "I'll try to visit now and then once you got itty-bits running around. You gonna send them to the academy?"

"Of course!" Fury giggled. "Knowing Kiba, they'll all be addicted to danger by the time they can walk and go looking for it."

Loor smiled softly.

Looking towards the future was all they could do.

It was the only hope they had.

* * *

Just one today, and maybe one tomorrow. Depends on how fast I write it.

**I own nothing!!**

-Loor


	23. Change of Face

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Three- Change of Face**

Loor had fallen asleep during the cart ride. She couldn't help it, having woken up so early. Despite all the bouncing she managed she sleep pretty well, her thoughts and dreams wandering between fears and memories. Most she didn't remember, but there was one passing thought that her brain held onto.

It was the shrine that she knew was along the road out of the village. She remembered it, and ringing the bells with Naruto. In her brain she knew exactly where it was, remembering every step she'd taken along that journey.

She missed Naruto, dearly. The village had suffered his absence, if only in the amount of hilarious pranks that were played. She wondered where he was, with Jiraiya, on his training journey. She wondered about all the things he learned, and if he had changed at all. Was he taller? Did he still wear blaze orange? Was he still horribly ADHD?

She'd have to visit the village when he was due to be back, so she could meet him with a sisterly noogie.

Her post-sleep thoughts were wiped out when she felt air, fresh air, rush into the cart. She opened her eyes to find the doors open and the sun down. Stars glittered outside, blocked only by the outline of Saikomi.

Loor got out of the cart at once, but Fury waited till she was bidden to get out, turned meeker than usual by not knowing where she was.

Saikomi's mystery man was gone, probably just a guy who had a cart to be rented. The woman motioned for the two girls to follow her to a small structure nearby, which looked something like a shack or a tool shed. There was a small window, and a light was on, but that was all that could be told from the outside.

Saikomi led the way, only speaking after she had opened the door to this little building, motioning them inside. "We must make it look like you two belong before I bring you in. Outsiders are not allowed inside the Okiya."

"Yay for rule breaking..." Loor muttered brusquely. The inside of the shack smelt of powders and make up, and there were two plainly dressed women waiting for them. Most of the shack was shelves, what little floorspace was left used up by two uncomfortable looking stools. The shelves were full of bottles and bowls, and it didn't take the girls very long to figure out what was going on here.

This was a supply shed, a place where they could keep things where people wouldn't go looking for them. The cosmetic smell was the stuff that the girls at Saikomi's Okiya used, but this was just a storage place.

"Handle them." Saikomi said shortly, firmly pushing the sister's forward. "The hair is long enough, but make it dark. And..." She pointed at the scars that both girls had. "Smooth their faces best you can. I will return shortly."

"Hey!" Loor growled as Saikomi turned to leave. "Where ta hell are you go--"

One of the women grabbed Loor by the shoulders and shoved her down onto the stool. As plain as they looked, Loor felt strength in the hands. She wanted to protest as Saikomi left, but decided it wasn't worth it.

Fury and Loor were faced away from each other while the women worked, Loor facing the door and Fury facing the back wall. There was silence, but neither tried to speak as the strange women mixed up black dye to try and change these sisters into something that they were not.

Loor hated every moment of the process. The dye smelt terrible, like something had rotted and then mixed with charcoal, and the feeling of the goo on her head made her shudder. There wasn't a mirror in the little shack, so she had no idea how it looked. The woman working on her wasn't very gentle either. Her hands pulled her hair this way and that in clumps to get to all the roots, putting the goop thick so it would soak through between the strands. Even one blond hair would be a give away, so Loor bit her tongue and dealt with the hair-pulling.

She heard Fury whimper now and then, but smiled softly that her sister could take this treatment so quietly.

It must have taken an hour, perhaps two, before both woman barked "Up!" at the girls. Both obeyed at once, just to get off the hard stools. The women held their dripping, goop-covered hair off of their backs, but directed the girls to walk outside. Loor moved first, and once outside they were furthered directed behind the little shack.

There, in the dark, a small spring glittered with starlight. With no obvious source, Loor came to think that it might've been man-made as a bath.

The women directed the girls to dip their heads into the water. Not to scrub, just dip in and back out, to get rid of the extra goop. After that they were taken back inside, their hair twisted up painfully, and tied off with the command to leave it alone till it dried.

After that the women went to apply thick, creamy, make-up that they mixed right in front of the girls to get the right color, smearing it on their faces to disguise the scars the sisters shared, as well as the extra scar Loor had across her nose from when Fury broke it. The cream smelt worse than the goo, but Loor made a point of not saying anything.

She had already suffered worse indignity than this, and imagined that she'd suffer worse yet in the future.

It was after this that Saikomi returned. She was smoking her pipe again, and had something in her free hand that Loor couldn't see because of the woman who was still messing with her face.

"That's not black." Saikomi said, her eyebrows raised.

The woman working on Loor stopped, looking back. She said nothing, just staring at Saikomi.

"I expected as much... blond hair never takes dye well. No, no, that shade will never pass..."

"We could coat her again." The woman offered.

"No!" Loor yelped. "You think I'm dealing with that goop again, you're dead wrong!"

Saikomi took a puff off of her pipe before chuckling.

"I expected this might happen. I have another option for our bull-dragon." Saikomi walked up to Loor, holding up the thing she held in her other hand.

It was a wig. A black wig. The hair looked real enough, and it was plenty long, but it was still a wig.

"Shave her." Saikomi gave. "And we'll wax this onto her head... wax should hold for a month or two before new hair growth pushes it off."

Loor blinked a few times. "Shave... like... bald?"

Saikomi gave Loor a sly smile. "Would you rather they put more dye on you?"

"No, no, that's fine."

"I expected so." Saikomi shifted her attention. "Show me the other one, come now!"

Fury slowly slid off of her stool, turning to face the Geisha in charge.

Her face was smooth, her hair was black, and her eyebrows had been done with the same goo to make it look natural. The same was the case for Loor's eyebrows, which was good enough for them, but her hair just didn't take. Fury took a glance over at her sister to see that her hair looked almost blue.

"Face me!" Saikomi barked.

Fury whipped around to look forward again.

"Have you named yourself yet?"

"Uh..." Fury lowered her face. "I couldn't... I didn't..."

"_Baka." _Saikomi muttered. "Aoi, then."

Fury nodded, lowering her head further.

"Hold!" Saikomi suddenly snapped. "What is that?"

"Huh?" Fury tried to lift her head but the Geisha grabbed her head to keep it down. Loor looked up too, seeing the woman's eyes fixated on something; Fury's mark.

"It's a curse mark." Loor gave, sounding casual. Both girls had grown to live with them, and the constant craving for power it caused. Loor realized that Fury's wish to be a civilian might have been her way of fighting that craving.

"Cover that up." Saikomi commanded, pushing Fury back into the hands of the woman who had done her hair and face.

"I have one too." Loor asserted.

Saikomi glared at the girl, looking rather ticked. Her gaze only switched to the woman working on Loor for a moment till she went right back to burning holes into Loor's forehead. At once the woman moved to start covering the mark on Loor's shoulder with the skin colored cream.

"Tsunade..." Saikomi finally sighed. "She didn't bother to tell me this."

"They haven't caused us any trouble." Loor tilted her head to the side to give the woman more room to work with. "I've kept myself in check, and they usually only act up when we're emotionally compromised."

"Do you two realize where you're going?!" Saikomi snapped, taking short little puffs off of her pipe and letting them out just as quickly. "Do you know where the Yagioke Okiya is?"

"Uh... No." Loor raised an eyebrow. "That's kinda why we had to go all undercover in the first place. If we knew where it was, we'd be able to sneak into the place like real shinobi instead of a couple of kids playing dress-up."

"The only place rich enough to support an Okiya and teahouse is the place where all the power is in the Field country. Do you know where that is? It's where all the shinobi are, and with them, their dictator."

Loor suddenly tensed. Behind her, she could sense Fury also growing fearful.

"The Sound village, Otogure. You'd be surprised on how often their Lord comes out from hiding, surrounded by nin with marks like those, to visit the teahouse. My old teacher writes to tell me of these nights, how it puts all her girls on edge. I know nothing of these marks, but if you have them I imagine he is looking for you."

"Orochimaru..." Fury muttered. "You're saying... we might run into him?"

"It's likely if you overstay yourself." Saikomi paced the room. "Teahouse patrons are supposed to be invite only, not to let the wrong type in... but the Otokage himself comes down, who has right to refuse him? No, who has the willingness to lose their head to refuse him?"

The woman started muttering to herself. Loor found herself focused on Saikomi and the thought that she might meet the very man she aimed to kill that she almost didn't notice when the woman working on her pulled out a pair of crude scissors and a straight edge razor blade from the shelves.

Loor wanted to hop away, but simply clung to her stool as the woman let her hair loose and started to cut things away close to the scalp.

"You two will have to move quickly. Yunakomi, my teacher, knows you are simply visiting. When you arrive she will prepared to accommodate you for a week, but I'm sure she'll be happy to get you out early. An advertising Miko has places to be, rich men to impress..."

"Uh... Right... what about me?" Loor questioned. "I mean, Fury's gotta look like she's a young girl trying to make it in a profession, but I'm the old person. What do I do?"

"Fully fledged Geisha teach a Miko. You are her guiding hand..." Saikomi waved Loor off, still thinking of what she would say to her teacher to make all things go smoothly. "You two must cover those marks at all times... if Yunakomi sees, she will know, and your mission will be lost."

"Why's that?" Fury questioned, finally standing free from the stool again. "What if we just told her what was going on? About the scrolls that got switched and all that?"

Saikomi stopped pacing. It was a sudden action, turning to shoot Fury a look that made the girl want to melt into the floor for opening her mouth at all.

"Do _not_ do that under any condition!"

"Why not?" Loor questioned, half of her hair gone. The woman was traveling from ear to ear, the other woman having taken up a second set of scissors to help her. "I thought Geisha cared nothing for war? What do they care about things their leader has stolen? All they should care about is that they're harboring stolen goods!"

"_Geisha_ care nothing for war, that is true, but you must understand that they are still human beings. They still have brains." Saikomi took a long puff from her pipe, trying to calm down. "They know where they live, and which lord they serve, and though he may be a vicious creature of vile means, in the case of war they know who's land they live on."

"So... if they did find out what we were doing and who we were..." Fury shook her head, coming to understand that there was no easy way to do this mission.

"You two would be as good as captured... or dead." Saikomi confirmed.

Loor growled slightly. The situation didn't look very good, but it had to be done. Those scrolls were dangerous to Konoha, and had to be destroyed. There was silence in the little shack till...

"What the hell?!" Loor turned slightly, having felt something cold touch her mostly exposed scalp. All the long hair was gone, leaving just the stubby leftovers to be shaved off. Still, the cold she felt was also wet. When she looked back she found one of the women applying white lather.

"It's just soap..." Fury pointed out. "Helps out with nicks and such."

"They could've given me a warning!" Loor huffed, crossing her arms and facing forward again. "God... never thought I'd get a straight edge used on my scalp."

"Don't move." Saikomi advised. "Wax is painful enough without it getting into a cut."

"How would you know?" Loor questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"We use it on our hair when we style it." Saikomi answered. "Keeps loose hair down."

Loor blinked a few times, her eyes going to Fury, who looked uncomfortable with the thought of hot wax in her hair. "Jeez... haven't you people heard of hair gel?"

"Loor!" Fury gave her sister a look. "They don't have that stuff here."

Saikomi gave the girls a strange look before Fury could go into lecture mode.

"Much we need to speak about, Tsunade..." Saikomi muttered to herself. "Very much..."

* * *

And we have another chapter up!

As you guys may have noticed, we are running full steam ahead in Geisha culture, which has caused Loor to do some research... yes, Loor did research...

And I learned several things, one of which, is this;

**GEISHA CULTURE HAS TOO MUCH INFORMATION FOR MY BRAIN TO ADSORB!**

There's a million proper terms, and dances, and customs, and hair styles, and make-up equals status and, kimonos, and how to tie the obi, and business, and, and, and... I got very confused very fast. When it all comes down to it, I read the basic overview, and decided to build up from there. Instead of breaking my brain over something I'm not getting paid for, I'm just gonna tell you guys that I couldn't understand it all.

You wanna know about Geisha culture, the real stuff? Look it up your damn self.

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	24. A New Learning

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Four- A New Learning**

The Okiya was sleeping when Loor and Fury arrived. The time was unknown, but the darkness was permeating. Despite that, Saikomi seemed to know exactly where she was going in the dark and led the girls through the silent halls. Fury tried to look around, aware that she was passing traditional sliding doors within traditional panel walls, the only way to tell the difference between the doors and the walls being that the doors had a little hole to grab to open them. Still, in the dark, she couldn't see into a room even if the door was open.

Saikomi stopped at one room, ushering the girls in and taking their clothes from them. She assured that these would be sent back home for them- nothing would be lost. The only thing she allowed the girls to keep was their headbands.

After that Fury was given a simple robe- the robe of a trainee. Of course, she'd be fitting in with students who weren't even Maiko yet, all yet to earn their first Kimono.

Loor, on the other hand, was given the robes of a Geisha. She'd be posing as one if she was seen by the youngers, though Loor looked horrified by the clothes she'd be stuck wearing for the next two weeks.

"How do you even put this on...?" She whispered, only holding the pile for the time being.

"Come day break I will show you." Saikomi snipped. "Quiet. Aoi," The elder woman looked to Fury, using the fake name in an attempt to get Fury used to being called by it. "My girls have no idea who you are, and it is vital that they do not find out. You may speak to them, but I would avoid it."

"Why can't they know?" Loor questioned.

"Because several of them were sold to me." Saikomi gave Loor a harsh look. "If they knew that you two were here by choice, some of them might hold hopes of running away. Now _quiet._"

Saikomi had put extra stress on the word because Loor's mouth was open to ask another question, one that was stifled by the Mother's intense glare. Once her trap was securely shut, Saikomi's attention went back to Fury. "Go back the way we came, two rooms down on the left, and wait for me."

Fury moved without question, and Saikomi grabbed Loor and dragged her back into the hall without a word, going deeper into the building. A few doors down she stopped and opened a door, pointing inside. "A room for guest Geisha. You will stay here. Sleep, be silent, and I will see you in the morning... Ryuuyume."

Loor blinked a few times, and then nodded while turning around to look at the room. Saikomi didn't spend any more time with her, shutting the door and rushing back to Fury. Loor was confronted by an ultimately empty room with a bedroll on the floor. There were no windows, no shelves, not even eye candy on the walls. Everything was blank. With her shoes taken from her Loor walked to the center of the room will the feel of rough tama mats under her feet.

She tugged on the long hair that had recently been waxed onto her head. It was black at night, and longer than her actual hair had been. The hair itself felt real, but when she tugged on it she felt no pain. It was actually thicker and heavier than her real hair, making her feel like she had a weight on back of her head. It made her neck hurt.

Standing there, in such strangeness, she wished she could go home. There was nothing she knew here, and she didn't even feel like herself.

The wish was botched out of her mind though. She couldn't think like that. She had to face forward. Thinking about the future, she knew she'd be back home soon enough. She just had to keep moving.

So she knelt on the rough floor, put down the pile of clothes that Saikomi had given her, and laid on the bedroll on the floor. There was no pillow, just a thick blanket covered by a thinner one for her to slip in between.

She first lay on her back, then rolled to her side, closed her eyes, and settled to sleep.

* * *

Fury had entered the room two doors down to find it wasn't empty. It was simple, lacking windows or furniture, but there were five other girls in the room. They were all sleeping on the floor in bedrolls, and on an estimate Fury had to say the youngest was seven, the oldest maybe thirteen. When she had first turned to see this she had to slap her hand over her mouth as no to yelp in surprise, and now she stayed like that, praying she didn't wake anyone as she stood there in her underwear, still holding the simple robe that Saikomi had given her.

It was a good thing her hand was already over her mouth, cause she tried to yelp again as the door came open, Saikomi stepping through. The woman said nothing, moving swiftly to a wall. Fury followed, but the tama mats made their trademark noise as she stepped on them. Somehow Saikomi moved silently, but Fury could not keep them from sounding.

Saikomi stopped at the wall, and Fury suddenly realized it was full of storage cabinets. A section slid away and the woman pulled out another bedroll, spreading it on the floor next to the oldest in the group of girls. Fury didn't need direction, stooping to the floor, slipping her robe on, and getting to bed.

Saikomi left without a word, and Fury turned her head into the thick base of the bedroll. She would rather a pillow to bury her face into, but all she had to cry in was what was under her head.

And cry she did. She felt lost, and ultimately alone. No Kiba, no Loor, not even her beloved dog.

"Hey... it's not that bad."

Fury's head shot up at a soft whisper next to her. She looked over to find the oldest person in the group was awake, and looking at her. "Huh?"

"Don't worry..." The girl said with a small smile. "It's not as bad as everyone makes it sound. I cried when I got here too... but its a good life. Tough, but good."

Fury blinked a few times, trying to figure out what the girl was talking about. It took her a few moments, but then she understood.

All these girls were sold into this. They all came here expecting slavery, to be kicked around for the rest of their lives. They all probably cried when they arrived, crying out of fear.

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

"Uh... Aoi." Fury swallowed back her tears, watching the girl carefully. "Yours?"

"Kak-- Oh, sorry... That's not right. Satsukomi."

The bewildered look on Fury's face didn't need words.

"Your name gets changed when you become a Maiko." Satsukomi whispered, lowering her head as if she were suddenly afraid of getting caught. "And you share your name with your teacher. Saikomi, Satsukomi..."

"I thought..." Fury lowered her voice as well. "I thought all Geisha in training were called Maiko."

Satsukomi shook her head. "Just the ones that get to leave the Okiya with the mother... you're a little old to be totally new..."

"Hey!" Another girl hissed. "Would you two hush up? Saikomi catches one of us talking we're all in trouble."

"Yeah, just cause you got your name changed doesn't put you one up on us, Satsukomi."

Satsukomi instantly laid her head back down, mimicking sleep. Fury opened her mouth to question, but then shut it, also putting her head down.

Such a strange place, this was.

* * *

The first thing Fury learned about life in an Okiya... was that the ones that had not yet reached Maiko status pretty much worked as maids. The Okiya was basically a large house of traditional make, both beautiful, fragile, and needing constant meticulous cleaning. Dusting, scrubbing the outdoor veranda and the indoor wooded area where people entering the Okiya would leave their shoes, bringing in water from an outdoor well for God knows what, and a great many other tasks. It wasn't that hard, seeing as Fury had been exposed to pretty much every type of cleaning under the sun thanks to various D rank missions she'd taken back in Konoha, but what bothered her was all the other girls knew exactly what to do without being told... and she didn't.

At first she hadn't panicked, seeing as the girl she'd met the night before, Satsukomi, was friendly enough and could probably show her the ropes. The problem was that Satsukomi was a Maiko, and no longer took part in the daily labor around the Okiya. That left her with the rest of the girls, who had a bad first impression of her from the night before. They wouldn't answer her questions, so all she could do was follow closely, copy them, and pray she was doing the right thing.

The morning was all work, stopping for hardly half an hour when all the girls suddenly dropped what they were doing, turned, and walked in a line to a particular room. It was creepy, as if they were all on clockwork, but Fury followed and found that they were basically reporting to a lunchroom. It was like all the other rooms, blank with traditional flooring and walls, the difference being pillows to lean their knees on. There were exactly seven, six of them facing each other in two rows of three, the seventh at one end of the two lines and centered.

Fury filed in, and the four other girls that she was with instantly knelt on one of the six pillows, the youngest on the end furthest from the seventh pillow, leaving two holes. One was right next to the seventh pillow, which Fury assumed was for Satsukomi, as she was the oldest, and one across from the youngest girl, which Fury assumed was saved for her because she was new.

It made her blush a little, guessing she should feel shamed for having to sit so low in the pecking order. After seeing that all the girls were sitting in the exact same way, on their knees with their rears resting on their heels, toes on the floor in an almost painful-looking fashion, she moved to sit across from the youngest in the same fashion.

Several of the girls started giggling at her as she put her hands on the floor to help herself down.

Fury glanced around. "Uh.. what?"

"Just sit!" The youngest hissed. "Saikomi will be here soon!"

Fury nodded, getting to her knees and doing her best to look like everyone else.

A moment later, Saikomi entered. She wasn't like she was in Konoha, dressed in a commoner's kimono. She was dressed in the full uniform of her art, elegantly covered in a dawn-colored kimono with falling flower petals and depictions of bare branches. Her hair was twisted up into a complex bun, various decoration shining among it. The obi, of another pale tone, was folded into a knot that had the ends falling all the way to the floor. In the tight kimono one would expect her to shuffle along, but grace persevered, her movements smooth and controlled as she passed her students, walking to the pillow at the end, turning, and standing in front of it to look over them.

The entirety of her entrance felt somewhat ritualistic, enchanting, and beautiful. Fury could only imagine that the girls around her were dreaming of the day that they would look the same, where they would in turn be teachers to hopeless girls like themselves.

It was an interesting cycle.

Staring at Saikomi, Fury was totally unprepared for a second entrance.

In step with Saikomi... was Loor. Fury didn't recognize the girl, seeing as she was completely done up like Saikomi was. Her kimono, stunning shades of green, made her look like a completely different person. The obi, ash brown with green leaf shapes sewn in, was done in a box knot that looked heavy, but of course Loor carried it like it was nothing.

Third in line, looking much less magnificent, was Satsukomi. She wore a kimono, yes, but it was obviously made for someone of less prestige. The obi was done in a bow-like knot that signified her being nothing but a lowly Maiko, her hair bearing nothing of the shining decorations that her senior Geisha teacher did, simply tied up in the same complex knots.

None of them wore make-up, but that was for when they showed their faces in public. Inside the Okiya, they were plain.

Loor stood next to Saikomi, and Satsukomi went around the two to a compartment in the wall to fetch another pillow, for Loor to lean upon. At a signal both knelt, Loor properly sitting by sinking to her knees while tucking the back of her kimono under her bottom, her hands then resting flat on her lap.

Satsukomi had gone back to the door, which had been left open, and knelt to grab a tray that was on the other side, shutting the door once she had it. After that she came to her feet, turned, and tried to move smoothly to kneel in front of Saikomi and Loor.

Fury saw that the tray she was carrying had bowls of rice. She instantly realized how hungry she was, though the fact that she couldn't smell the rice meant it was cold. She didn't care, working all morning without food would have left her ready to eat anything.

Saikomi gave a slight nod, and Satsukomi gently laid out the bowls for everyone, along with chop sticks, getting up and kneeling again every time she had to move- apparently Geisha were not permitted to slide on the floor. Finally, with the last bowl of rice she came to kneel at her own place, the tray left next to the door.

Again, this felt like a ritual of some sort.

Fury desperately wanted to eat, but no one else was moving to do so yet, so she waited.

But she also stared at Loor. The girl kept her eyes downcast, not making contact with anyone. It made Fury feel even more alone than she had felt the night before, but she didn't want to go back to looking at the rice she wasn't allowed to eat yet, so she kept staring, willing her sister to look up.

"Aoi." Saikomi suddenly said, causing Fury to change her gaze over.

"Hm?"

"Do you have something to say to our guest?" The woman sounded stern.

"Huh?" Fury blinked a few times. "No... I... uh.."

"Then you will spare her your gaze."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

Finally, Saikomi took her bowl and her chop sticks and began to eat, signaling that everyone else could as well. Fury wanted to use her hands and gulp it down, but everyone else was being calm and clean about it, so she did her best with the chop sticks and found that the cold rice stuck together as if bound with glue. Hiding her surprise she ate quietly as everyone else did.

No one spoke, and once the bowls were empty Satsukomi got the tray again to collect them in the same fashion she had passed them out in.

There was silence as Satsukomi opened the door, leading the way out as Loor followed her, followed by the Mother. On her way out, the Mother was looking out at all the girls, her gaze careful.

She stopped behind Fury.

"Aoi." She said. "Show me how you sit."

Fury bit her lip, feeling busted. At once she attempted to stand, but the second she put her hands out to get up she felt a sharp hit on the back of her neck. Her first reaction was to grab the spot, but her fingers were hit in the same way as she crashed back to her pillow.

"Clean hands for handling tea, Aoi. They must not touch the floor. Get to your feet."

Fury glanced out at the other girls, all of them watching her. The youngest looked scared, but the rest were hiding secret smiles.

Fury shifted back, putting her weight over her heels, to get up without her hands, but found herself on the floor as she was hit yet again.

"Oiran stand like that. Stand straight up, holding poise, grace, and balance."

Fury was gritting her teeth. This felt like training with Neji, where everything she did wrong brought instant, and painful, punishment. Of course, that was sparring. She expected to get hit. This was supposed to be something as simple as getting up...

She moved to get to her feet, going quickly so she didn't have time to lose her balance...

To get whacked to the floor again.

"_Grace." _Saikomi stressed. "Not too fast, not too slow."

Fury tried not to growl. The lady knew she wasn't actually someone training to be a Geisha, or even someone who knew the meaning of grace. Why was she being so hard on her?

Because she'd be just as hard on anyone else in the room. It was an act, but it was one they both had to follow to keep things covered.

So Fury tried to get up again, her toes taking her weight and her knees straightening as she kept her balance.

She expected to be hit again, but was surprised as she wasn't.

"Now sit."

Fury blinked. Right, the whole reason she was getting up was so she could sit down again.

She tried to remember how she saw Loor sit. Keeping her head forward, she bent at the knees to sit back down, running her hands under her thighs to collect the fabric under her, sitting and putting her hands in her lap.

She waited, again, to be hit, sure she'd messed something up... only to hear the sound of the sliding door shutting.

Saikomi had left, and all the girls in the room instantly moved to put the pillows away, stacking them up in the same compartment Satsukomi had taken the extra one out of. No one bothered to get up properly once the mother was gone, but Fury made a point of it, mainly to practice.

She didn't wanna get hit again.

* * *

Woot! Update!

Fury getting her ass kicked!

Oh, I guess that isn't a woot. But oh well.

**No ownage.**

See you later punks.

-Loor


	25. Masks

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Five- Masks**

"Why in the world did you do that to her?!"

Saikomi sighed, as the second she and Loor got away from the others the girl broke character to yell at her. "Discipline is part of their lives. What would it look like if I treated her different from the others? Usually I would do it at the beginning of the meal... I was trying to keep it from your sight."

"Well you failed." Loor snarled.

Saikomi had passed Loor, the two of them in her quarters, going to get her pipe from a stand near a bedroll of her very own. Unlike the other rooms, this one was furnished and had two windows, one in the west wall, one in the east. "She will not get special treatment, and you cannot console her in front of the others. I must make these girls understand that the only way to improve their lives is to work for it. If I bent my ear to every cry in the night, they would never grow up... not mentally anyway."

"So what? You think you're raising them? One parent to six kids?"

"That is _exactly_ what I'm doing." Saikomi had packed and lit her pipe by now, turning and puffing at it. "Their families didn't want them, enough to sell them to get out of debt, and I paid for them. I feed them, clothe them, and teach them so that they may aspire to something far greater than what they left behind."

"And how do you know this is greater than what they left behind?" Loor stormed, glaring. "Maybe their families just hit a rough spot, and that was that?"

"Half of those girls have come from village's outside this country's borders." Saikomi narrowed her eyes. "Some of them are from where you're going. You want to suggest life was better for them?"

Loor blinked, and finally calmed down, taking a breath.

"Sorry... I've just never seen something like that."

"You will see more."

"So... what now?"

"You are going to come with me."

Loor rolled her eyes before improving her posture, aware that following Saikomi meant she had to go back to acting. The woman walked down what was the main hall of the house after leaving her room, turning into one of the many rooms. Loor had to wonder how she remembered which room was which, but didn't voice the question.

This room was very different from the rest that Loor had seen.

First, there were no tama mats on the floor. The woven mats ended shortly after the door, and there was a step down to a polished wooden floor. Then, around the room, were shelves of stuff. It reminded her of the storage shed she and Fury went to when they arrived, as the stuff on the shelves were of the same nature.

There was a massive amount of make up here.

Also in the room was the girl who had served the rice at the meal. Saikomi had mentioned that she had recently reached the stage of her training that she was recognized as a Maiko, but Loor hadn't a clue what that title entailed.

The girl sat on a stool, facing a mirror with a water basin in front of it with ram-rod straight posture. She was no longer wearing the kimono she had worn during meal time, wearing little more than a loose night robe. Her hair was still done up. Loor had learned that Geisha and Maiko kept their hair up for week at a time because of how hard it was to knot it up in the first place, sleeping with a neck brace instead of a pillow as not to squish their hair.

"Is your face clean, Satsukomi?"

"Yes, Okaa-san." The girl, Satsukomi, gave a small nod. "May I ask why our guest is here?"

"Ryuuyume is going to be taking an Imoto-chan soon." Saikomi pulled two other stools out of the corner of the room, pushing one out for Loor and taking a seat on the other one after putting it behind Satsukomi. "She has come to watch so she will know how to apply make-up on someone else, as she has only done it for herself before."

Loor blinked. Imoto-chan meant little sister. She had to guess that the Maiko a Geisha trained was considered their little sister, unless the Geisha was an Okiya mother, because then she'd still be Okaa-san.

It was a confusing and strange world the Geisha lived in.

Still, Loor did her best to pay attention. She knew why Saikomi was really doing this; Loor had never applied make-up to _herself. _She'd probably have to do it for Fury as well, so by watching this she'd at least have a clue of what she was doing.

"Ryuuyume." Saikomi spoke while working. "Satsukomi are entertaining at a banquet tonight. As our guest, you are most welcome to join us."

Loor blinked, refusal on her tongue. A whole night of acting prim and proper and trying to walk around in the proper kimono? She'd rather crawl back in her strange bedroll and hide. But still, she had to learn the adult side of this while Fury was learning the basics she needed to know to pose as a Maiko later, so she gave a soft smile instead.

"I'd be most honored." She accepted with a small nod.

"Wonderful." Saikomi had covered Satsukomi's skin in a layer of clear oil and was now mixing up something that looked like white paint. Saikomi had Satsukomi turn, starting with her face and painting down the girl's neck, covering a small patch on the little girl's chest before having her turn to face the mirror again, doing the back of her neck and leaving a small area, just below the hairline, clear.

Loor didn't get it, but that was okay. She didn't have to understand, just copy.

Next Saikomi used charcoal to color in Satsukomi's eyebrows, red paint for the little girl's lips, a lighter red to accent her eyes after using black paint to line them, all of it applied with an expert hand that had instructed many apprentices. She took her time, explaining to Satsukomi how she would properly apply this to herself in the future, and that when she had an Imoto-chan of her own to train she would learn that applying it on someone else was a completely different skill.

After it was done, it looked to Loor as if the little girl was wearing a mask of white. Gone was the look of a child, she was simply a woman in a mask, unknown to the world.

Saikomi dismissed her and turned to Loor as the little girl ran off, getting up. "I will assist you this time, but you must learn how to do your own make-up quickly. You must seem practiced, and have a steady hand, or you will raise suspicion." She gestured a hand to an empty shelf. "Take off that kimono, store it there for now."

Loor didn't argue, getting up and doing as she was told as quickly as she could. Getting out of a kimono was no easier than getting into one. Eventually Saikomi started instructing her, though she sounded irked that she had to do so. Eventually Loor managed to free herself without damaging the robes she had been wrapped up in, trying to neatly fold them as she got them off and putting them on the shelf.

Then, wearing nothing but the under kimono, having been forced to give up her underwear, she came back and sat on the stool in front of Saikomi.

"Wash your face." The woman instructed. "You may uncover your scars, but the paint will cover them. If anyone notices, and asks, do not answer them. Many Geisha suffer abuse from their trainers at a young age. If you remain silent they will assume and trouble you no more."

Loor nodded, bending to the basin below the mirror and scrubbing her face until Saikomi was happy, coming back up and patting herself dry with a cloth the woman provided. She went through a similar process that Satsukomi had to go through, only Saikomi made her take the brush for most of it. For the most part Loor put the make-up on herself, with Saikomi's hand only intervening before she made a huge mistake; like nearly painting the robe she was wearing, or her hair.

But the style of the make-up deviated as well. Saikomi had her color only her upper lip, and only line her eyes, not coloring her lids.

"Maiko have more dramatic make-up and kimono to attract attention, as they are still building their career." Saikomi explained. "A respected Geisha does not need such things to get the attention she deserves with her title."

"Then how come Satsukomi's kimono was so modest at meal time?"

"Her first time in a proper kimono? During a meal? Why would I give her something beautiful to accidentally soil? In public she will have to wear her status, but here she is still practicing."

Loor didn't question how badly you could soil something with plain rice, just looking forward as she did her best to color her eyebrows without coloring anything else black.

"So why do you leave the blank spot on the back of the neck?"

"It's a trademark. The shape of the empty space is different from Geisha to Geisha. Satsukomi is my Maiko, and until she is a Geisha she will use my pattern. It makes our make-up appear more as a mask, with an empty space to pull it off. We are faceless entertainers."

"With status." Loor snorted. "It's like people who could be hugely famous but would rather hide behind fake names and faces."

"Are shinobi not the same?" Saikomi questioned. "Your deeds to your village can be the difference between victory and defeat in war, but if someone knew of what you did... all could be lost. You operate like we do, in a manner. You shinobi could be seen as war heroes... but it invites assassins to stab you in the back, or enemies to kidnap you for your privileged information. Geisha may not fear death or kidnapping, but the lust of a rich man is something equal to fear. And so our names change as we grow up, and we hide our faces... and still we are not completely safe."

Loor felt herself look down slightly, putting down the charcoal. Saikomi did make a point.

"We aren't either... but shinobi choose their lives, knowing what it means."

"That may be the difference." Saikomi shook her head. "You are done. Go back to your quarters, I will bring you your kimono for tonight and help you put it on, and then you will come with me to watch as I help Satsukomi. After that, go to the meal room. I will send your sister to you so you may speak with her in private."

Loor got up, turning back to Saikomi. "Thank you..."

"No need to thank me." The old woman actually smiled back. "Back when I was as young as you, I was quite the bull myself. When I was a Maiko, I had seen a group of shinobi on my first outing with my Onee-san. I thought they were strong, amazing... I had tried to run from this life to go to that one."

"What happened?"

"One of the shinobi tried to show me how our lives were the same... but it was the adventure that I was interested in. Who wanted to wear kimono and preform when you could be out, traveling the world, seeing and exploring?" The old woman shook her head, her age showing through. "I refused to go back to my Okiya... I wanted to follow those shinobi back to their village and take on a different life. But the one that had taken to me... she eventually convinced me to go back by promising that she'd find me again, and promising that if I could some day help, she'd call on me."

Loor stared. No wonder Saikomi was helping them. She had wanted to _be_ them. This was the best she could do, the closest she could get to a hidden away dream. "Did she?"

"Why, of course." Saikomi smiled. "Doesn't Tsunade-sama always keep her promises?"

Loor blinked a few times. Tsunade had mentioned that she and Saikomi were friends...

She just kept forgetting that Tsuande was fifty some. The two had probably been around the same age when they met, Tsunade a genin with her team and sensei, Saikomi a little Maiko with her Onee-san.

In her head, she could see Saikomi as a young girl, running wild with a young Tsunade, trying to escape from the Geisha life in favor for adventure.

She smiled. "Yeah, usually."

* * *

Fury was sure she was in trouble.

Not that she hadn't spent the whole day going in and out of trouble. She and the other girls had been continuing what had been their all day task; keeping the Okiya clean. It would seem that the list of tasks never ended, and Fury ended up on cooking detail for dinner because she couldn't do anything else right.

Dinner being... you guessed it; more rice. How did these people live off of rice?! They didn't even put salt on it! Still, beyond that the rice wasn't even boiled; it was steamed. Fury didn't know how to do it, so she ended up doing the grunt work of getting a bag of dry rice out, which had to weigh thirty pounds when it was full, and taking it back once the other girl helping her had taken all they needed to prepare.

Of course, thirty pounds was nothing for a shinobi, but Fury had to pretend it was a big weight or else someone would have wisened up to her.

Just as she was putting the rice away, thinking about how hungry she was, she heard something that nearly made her drop the bag she was hoisting to the floor.

"Aoi!"

Fury caught the bag, turning to someone calling her 'name.' They sounded pissed.

"Y-yes?!" She responded, getting the bag onto the shelf before turning all the way to look.

Saikomi had come. The woman was now in full Geisha dress. She looked even more majestic than she had at their first meal time, even if her painted face was twisted up in distaste. It was the air she carried. Now her kimono was of a more modest color and make, but with it commanded an authority like no other. A senior Geisha, her lips only bore a red line down the middle of the lower lip. Her face was pure, but for eye liner and her colored in eyebrows.

The Geisha's mask; and she wore it beautifully.

"Come!" The woman snapped.

Fury did as she was told, putting her head down meekly and glancing to the side at the other girl who had been helping her with cooking duty.

The other girl seemed to smirk, her face nearly singing the words 'Someone's gonna get it.'

Fury couldn't even guess what she'd done now. She'd already been yelled at for not cleaning things correctly, not folding up her bedroll like she was supposed to, and a whole bunch of other little stuff that didn't matter to her. That was how she ended up on cooking duty.

Saikomi didn't scold her as they left the kitchen behind, walking briskly. A few doors down she stopped abruptly, looking up and down the hall.

There was no one.

Saikomi lowered her voice. "Your sister is waiting for you in the room where we eat. Be quick, be quiet. She will tell you things I currently cannot. Set out the cushions for meal time once she leaves."

Fury blinked, and then nodded. Saikomi hustled down the hall, and Fury turned back the way they'd come. The meal room was right next to the kitchen. It could hardly be called a dining room; all they ate was rice. So She padded quietly down the hall, sliding the door open, entering, and closing it behind her.

She turned, and found herself staring.

"Onee-san??" She questioned in shock, gaping at the person she had to believe was Loor. Like before, she was in full kimono and her hair was tied up, but like Saikomi the kimono was more modest. Instead of the stunning green she had worn before, she wore a dark gray with a black obi, red thread sewn into it and accenting the edges.

"I hate it too, don't worry."

At least she still sounded like Loor.

"No! You're beautiful." Fury giggled, shaking her head. "You're lucky to be all dressed up like that. I once tried to get a proper kimono back in the village, but they cost an arm and a leg. To get something like this, you'd have to sell your soul."

"Whatever." Loor shook her head, growling. "I hate all the constriction. The obi is a bra, pretty much, so it's as tight as a corset... a real one, not those crap ones you get at Ren Faire. Anyway," Loor shook her head. "Saikomi says to mess up your sitting and standing during the meal time. She'll 'punish' you with full clean up of the kitchen and this room. The other girls will be sent to bed. When Saikomi, Satsukomi, and I come back tonight--"

"You guys are going somewhere?"

"Why the fuck do you think that lady is doing this crap to me??" Loor hissed. "I can't touch my freakin' face and my nose has been itching for the past hour. She's got some occasion or another that'll help me to learn what we need to know about behavior. Anyway, in the compartment where the cushions are stored- there's a set of fans. You'll have to scrub a kitchen, but Saikomi will come tonight and help you with them. You need to learn how to dance like a Maiko, but youngers don't handle fans till they're older."

"Why couldn't I just posed as a learning Maiko here? It would have made things easier... we wouldn't have to hide in shadows."

"Because if you were a Maiko you'd be learning from me, and I still don't know shit."

"Oh... right..."

* * *

I can only upload this one chapter right now. I'll put the other two from this set up tonight.

**I own nothing!!**

-Loor


	26. Hiding Away

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Six- Hiding Away**

"Ryuuyume?"

Loor looked down at Satsukomi, who had addressed her. She, the young Maiko, and Saikomi, were on their way back from the banquet they had gone to. Basically all Loor had done was sit pretty and smile at people, watching as Saikomi instructed young Satsukomi. Now, Satsukomi looked up at her, eyes big behind the white paint that was her mask.

"Hm?" Loor answered the girl, trying to remember her proper character around the child, glancing at Saikomi. The woman had warned them about speaking with the children, about being careful not to alert them to anything.

"Do you know Aoi? I find it strange that you and her arrived on the same night."

Loor blinked. Aoi? She took a few moments to remember that was the fake name Saikomi picked out for Fury. Even then, she still didn't know how to answer.

Thinking fast, Loor gave a soft smile and a small shake of her head. "I do not, but she seems like a sweet girl."

"Maybe she'll be your Imoto-chan one day?"

"Maybe." Loor tired not to giggle. "Do you look forward to growing up and training someone yourself?"

Satsukomi looked back at Saikomi, who was looking at the lamps along the street they walked, seeming uninterested in the conversation in front of her. She then looked back to Loor.

"I never thought I would make it here... looking so far forward is scary. I would like to teach, but first, I would like to survive to the top."

"Good thinking. One step at a time, and you'll make it. Won't be easy, but you'll make it."

"Well spoken, Ryuuyume." Saikomi had come back to earth, though Loor had the feeling the woman had only pretended to be daydreaming, still paying sharp attention. "But I do believe we are home."

* * *

That night of training was the first of many for Fury. She had a lot to learn, a lot more than Loor, and sufficiently less time to learn it in seeing as she had to 'work nights.' Where Loor spent nearly every moment of every day learning shamisen and edict, Fury had to cover dance, walking, talking, poring tea, proper greetings, and more all under the cover of darkness. One had to question just when Saikomi slept with how much work she did with the girls.

And they both knew that they would need every nugget she imparted on them. Like Tsunade had said, this woman was God for those two weeks, and her every word was sacred, memorized before it left the air.

And so Loor learned to be a Geisha, and Fury learned to be a Maiko.

Fury also learned how to function without sleep, because she was losing sleep with every evening session. Every day she'd have to make one huge mistake that would give her whatever night time duty while the rest of the girls went to bed. As she missed more and more sleep, Saikomi didn't have to direct her on how to screw up anymore. Fury, in groggy clumsiness, would make several fatal mistakes a day. She'd spill water that was being hauled into the Okiya, or damage a tama mat that was having the dust beaten out of it, or knock something over and break it.

By the second week, Fury had become a master at getting into trouble.

And so, stuck on evening kitchen-cleaning-duty, she found herself dozing off as she scrubbed the floor, waiting for Saikomi.

"You... really suck at this."

Fury fell to her back, landing in the puddle of water on the floor, when she heard a voice behind her that wasn't Saikomi's.

Satsukomi was standing in the doorway.

Fury blinked a few times. "What... what are you doing awake?"

"Saikomi meant to get a handful of rice, as we are teaching the girls how to sleep with neck braces to keep their hair off the floor when they are Geisha and have it styled for a prolonged time. We spread rice, and it sticks to them if they roll off of the brace... I felt I could save her a trip by getting it for her... and I also wanted to see you."

"Thank you." Fury pushed up to her knees, bowing her head properly.

"Aoi..." Satsukomi paused. "Why do you keep getting in trouble? You are older than me. You should be Maiko or even a young Geisha at this point... you should know more than you do... The other girls are content to laugh at you, but..." Satsukomi stared earnestly at her. "I suspect you are something different than a clumsy girl."

"No, no. I'm naturally very clumsy." She rubbed the back of her head, chuckling slightly. "I'm just good at getting into trouble is all. Always have been."

"I can't believe that. I was clumsy. You are haphazard."

Fury felt herself shrinking, bowing her head further. What could she say?

"Satsukomi."

Both girls looked out into the hall.

"S-Saikomi!" Satsukomi looked like a kid who had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been. "I.. I was getting the rice for you!"

"Thank you, but you are not to engage in idle chatter." Saikomi came into the room with her usual grace, turning to Satsukomi and herding her out. "I will get the rice. I am also taking some time to direct Aoi. As you can see, she needs it... the others cannot see me taking individual time with her. You understand?"

Satsukomi blinked a few times, backing out and glancing at Fury again.

Fury stared back guiltily. In another world, she could have been friends with a girl like Satsukomi. She didn't like lying to her.

After a moment the girl turned to run down the hall to her sleeping quarters. It was unprofessional of her, but that was okay. There was no one but her teacher to see.

That, and a seemingly failed student.

Saikomi slid the door shut.

"She's been suspecting for some time now." Saikomi muttered. "Perhaps I am not as good as this as I had hoped."

"What are we doing tonight?"

The woman turned, looking at Fury before gaining a small smile. "You are going to finish scrubbing the floor, and then you will sleep."

Fury blinked.

"...eh?"

"Did you not hear Satsukomi? The girls are learning to cope with the neck braces. I have taught you the basics of what you need to know, enough to pass you off as a young Maiko. You're actually quite good with the fans... you will spend the next week with my girls, so you learn to sleep with the brace. If you roll off of a neck brace, you will blow your cover faster than you would wearing your headband in public."

"Oh... oh, alright. So... I don't have to get in trouble anymore?"

"No. Behave your best..." Saikomi smiled softly. "Do not let the others laugh at you anymore. You are greater than them. They will never do anything but be beautiful and serve tea... you, you will turn tides in war. You and your sister, and others of your like."

Fury blinked. "But... Geisha are great too... It's a wonderful profession."

"But it is not needed." She walked into the room, finally going to get the rice she had come to obtain. "I have been honored to help you and your sister... to help your village. If I have made a difference in this world, I may breathe my last with pride."

Fury didn't say anything for a while, and Saikomi stayed facing the open compartment that she had gotten the rice from, not moving once she had what she needed. Fury, scrubbing the floor, eventually came to a question.

"Why... why don't you quit? I mean... you don't have to be a Geisha. You have money now. You're not sold into this anymore, you're at the top of the food chain. Why don't you just... stop? If you feel it doesn't matter, why don't you quit and do something that does?"

Saikomi actually laughed, ever so softly.

"It has never been in me to quit... and I know nothing else. If I left the life I have, I have no idea what else I could build for myself. And here... I have been of use. Fury... wherever you go, whatever you do... never pass up a chance to make a difference."

There was silence again.

Saikomi turned, walking to the door and opening it.

"I will set your bedroll. Sleep soon."

"Yes, Okaa-san."

Fury kept her head down, frowning slightly, as Saikomi left.

_Wherever you go, whatever you do... never pass up a chance to make a difference._

Saikomi spoke so passionately in the darkness, as if she had given up her chance and didn't want to see anyone else miss it. Or maybe she never had the chance.

Maybe she wanted to change the world, but had never been able to do so.

She put more muscle in scrubbing the hard kitchen floor.

Saikomi had gotten her chance with this mission, and so had Fury. Here and now, with this mission, she and her sister were making a difference.

She'd make that difference.

She'd be proud of it.

Then she'd leave it all behind for someone else to have the glory.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!!"

"Hm? Shizune? You look rather disheveled. Compose yourself."

Tsunade had been taken a short break, spending it taking a walk down the main street and occasionally looking back at the Hokage building and the Great Hokage Faces looming over it. During a time that she had been looking back, Shizune had come running from the direction of the village gate and nearly crashed into her.

And like Tsunade said, the woman looked like she'd just been tackled or something. Her usual robe had one hem of the collar tugged past her shoulder, her chunnin vest half open, the netted shirt underneath showing. As commanded, she started straightening up, but she spoke at the same time.

"Patrol caught someone prowling about the walls, a shinobi."

Tsunade blinked, turning her head slightly to the side. "Uh... so? They catch bandits and low leveled shinobi wandering about all the time."

Shizune finally finished composing herself, standing at attention and looking directly at Tsunade. "It's one of Orochimaru's. He's not struggling too much, but I have several people watching him. Since he's not fighting we have no idea how strong he is."

Tsunade nodded, her eyes sharpening.

Break time was over.

"Come." Shizune gave, waving Tsunade along while turning to walk. "We're holding him just outside the gate. He's not very talkative, but I figured you'd be able to get something out of him before we sent him over to..."

Shizune swallowed, hesitating on the thought of what happened when an enemy shinobi didn't respond to conventional interrogation.

"Sound shinobi are known for their resilience." Tsunade noted. "Ibiki will probably get this one."

"It disgusts me that we actually have a department of torture and interrogation."

"Ibiki's methods are cruel, sometimes very strange, but effective." Tsunade shrugged. "To be honest, I'm okay with putting hooks in peoples feet and hanging them up like that, it's when he pulls out the razors and salt that I get grossed out."

"I draw the line at the prison itself..."

"You'd rather we have it in the village?"

"No, not at all! It's just... It is an active volcano. What if it erupts with all the prisoners inside? We keep them for their information."

"We've drilled so many holes in it that all the pressure vents. An eruption would be impossible. I had the same doubt, but I've been assured _someone _did all the math."

Shizune shook her head slightly as they passed through the open gate, leading the way to the side. Several yards down along the wall was a group of chunnin and jonin, all guarding one kid who was sitting against the wall.

His headband clearly posted him as a sound shinobi. The kid had his head down, hands in his lap. He looked throughly relaxed, despite his situation.

He couldn't have been more than thirteen, but he'd have to be chunnin rank to be doing missions like this.

Tsunade shook her head, whispering to Shizune. "Tch... Orochimaru must be training them very young. It's almost wrong."

Shizune nodded slightly before taking the air of authority, looking at the group guarding the kid. "Has he said anything?" She barked.

"Nothing since you left. Course... we haven't been asking."

"Dimwits." Tsunade muttered, stepping in front of Shizune and looking down at the kid who was against the wall. He looked up when her shadow fell over him, staring up blankly. It was a poker face, the glazed look he put in his own eyes.

"Well..." Tsunade smirked. "Let's cut to the chase. Why are you here?"

His head dropped down to his chest again, staying silent.

She rolled her eyes, gesturing to all around her to back off as she came closer to the kid and knelt down. There was some confusion before the other shinobi backed away a few steps, watching as their Hokage came to be on the same level as the enemy.

"Listen, kid." Tsunade's voice lowered, so it was between her and him. "I don't know how they do things in your village, but if you tell us why the hell you were here we're likely to let you run back home. If you decide to be difficult..." She smirked. "I'm sure you've heard Konoha's reputation when it comes to torture techniques."

"I have already failed." The boy spoke quietly. "If I were to return, worse would happen to me."

"Failed? You're not dead yet."

"I have been seen." He said simply. "I have failed. If you wish to do me a mercy, kill me."

She sighed, shaking her head. "No one has to know that you've been caught. We found you out here. We don't kill scouts that often unless they make it inside. You're not even on the record yet."

His head suddenly snapped up.

"You want me to lie?"

"Not lie. Omit the truth."

"It's the same thing." He looked down again. "And a cardinal sin. I will not."

"Well then, you have to tell us what you're doing."

The kid choked, realizing the conditions he had just put on his behavior. Omitting the truth counted as lying, so he had to confess his mission.

But that was what Orochimaru taught. He hated lying.

So he taught his operatives honesty. Even the youngest ones. So many of his army worshiped him as a god.

Strange that someone so evil put honesty so highly.

"I... I'm looking for someone... two girls... with.."

He looked like he wanted to retch as he confessed his mission. After a moment he took a deep breath, whispering it.

"I am to locate two girls in this village with a curse mark and report back."

Tsunade stood up suddenly, backing away and looking to the shinobi around her. "Let him go. Watch him to make sure that he doesn't go in, but let him run."

"Huh?!" The kid seemed to protest, getting up and looking at Tsunade. "Didn't I tell you what would happen to me if I returned?"

"Then run." Tsunade replied, giving him a steely gaze. "Those two are not here. Run where you will, but we have no place for you in our walls or in a cell."

The kid stood against the wall for a second, looking around to the many sets of eyes that were locked onto him.

A moment later, he kicked off of the ground and vanished into the woods.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune questioned.

"He's looking for them." Tsunade muttered. "Loor and Fury... that was a scout sent to look for them. He probably has a team getting ready to capture the two... he's getting close to making a move if he's looking for them... he wants them for whatever he's planning next."

Shizune thought for a moment, frowning. "Then... why did you tell him that they weren't here?"

"Because." Tsunade actually came to smile. "If they're not here, they could be out on a mission. If they're not here, they could be anywhere... hopefully that fact will keep them safe for a bit longer."

"If he even goes back to Orochimaru." A doubting jonin muttered.

"He will." Tsunade said with conviction. "Besides honesty, Orochimaru beats loyalty into his people. That kid will go back, even if it means facing a fate worse than death."

Shizune shuddered slightly. "That... Is almost sickening."

"It's the way the snake is."

* * *

Yay! More chapters!

I'm sorry things have been going so slow. .

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	27. Resolve

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Seven- Resolve**

Loor and Fury were in Saikomi's room. It was the middle of the night, the end of their last day at her Okiya. One might assume that these two would be getting a good night of sleep, so they would be ready for the next step in their mission. Now that their two weeks with Saikomi were up, they would move on to the Yagioke Okiya, belonging to Saikomi's old teacher, Yunakomi.

And they would find themselves not only in the Field country, Sound territory, they would find themselves in Otogure itself, the hidden village that Orochimaru called home.

And why were they not sleeping?

Because like they had arrived at this Okiya, they would be going to the next one under the cover of darkness to avoid notice. The girls in this house knew they were leaving, oh yes, but Loor and Fury would have to arrive as Geisha and Maiko, not Geisha and a not yet graduated apprentice.

So in the night the two would be dressed properly for their roles and be carted away before anyone could see.

Saikomi was simply watching. Loor, as a Geisha, had to be able to put her own kimono on, and then assist her Imoto-chan in the same task. Saikomi would mutter a correction now and then, as Loor's knotting of the Obi was not exactly expert.

But eventually, in the silence of night, they were ready to move on. Both girls were dressed for their position, their hair done up simply to be out of the way. The make-up hiding their scarred faces and their curse marks had been redone, making their faces look smooth and what showed of their shoulders unblemished.

Saikomi inspected the two of them, and after a nod, handed them both something.

Their headbands.

The girls took them with a nod, tucking the metal-plated symbol of their true service into the obis they wore, hiding them away.

"Geisha and Maiko have similar names." Saikomi spoke in nothing about a stage whisper. "Loor, you will keep your name, Ryuuyume. Fury, you are Tenshiyume. Your relationship is described by the titles of big sister and little sister, but you will learn that girls within an Okiya all call each other sisters, either older or younger according to status."

"Why don't your girls do that?" Loor questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I run a different house." Saikomi smiled softly. "These girls have no status. I teach them the basics, and I will take one or two of them to the end of their education and into their career, but most girls move to different Okiya as they grow older. Yunakomi runs an Okiya of older girls. They are all Maiko status or higher, and they will all eventually move on somewhere else when they properly apprentice someone. Yunakomi simply gives them a space to practice their art and perform."

"She won't take a new Imoto-chan?" Fury asked.

"Yunakomi is old..." Saikomi chuckled. "I am old, and she was my teacher. She feels she no longer has the energy to teach."

"Okay." Loor broke in, her tone expressing a need to move things along. "Let's go over the game plan here. We're not going to stay for very long, but Yunakomi already knows that, right?"

"I have informed her that your stay would be very brief. She has made it so you, Fury, will preform every night of your stay so you get your proper exposure. Loor, you will have to play for her, as her Onee-san."

"Yeah, yeah, I got that stuff." Loor shook her head, trying to focus less on the game of dress-up they were playing and more on why they were playing it. "I got this pretty much on a three night thing. First night we get a good look-see, blend in, good first impression, take is slow. By the end of the second night we need to at least find out where the scrolls we're after are located. Once we know where they are, we can figure out whether we can retrieve them or if we have to destroy them. Night three, we do whatever we decide and get the hell out."

"Sounds simple enough..." Fury nodded. "How are we leaving?"

"How do you think?" Saikomi looked sharply at her. "You're going to walk. Whether it looks like you're stealing or destroying Okiya property, your cover will be more than blown. Yunakomi will not give you transport as it is currently, forcing me to take you two to her. You two will have to run... take good care of those kimono. They were expensive."

"I'm sure we can have Tsunade send them back to you." Loor said, a note of disgust in her voice as she absolutely detested what she was wearing.

"No." Saikomi actually flashed a small smile. "Keep them, as a thank you from and old woman who always wanted to have an adventure."

"What do we do if we... if..." Fury stumbled in speaking, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Loor.

"If the Otokage happens to patron the Okiya?" Saikomi questioned, not saying Orochimaru's name for Loor's sake. She didn't know what Loor's beef was, but there was obviously bad blood between her and the Sound Village's leader. "Act like you don't notice. Give your best performance, play your part, and stay calm. The white face paint that we wear is made to obscure who we are."

"What if he sees through us?" Loor questioned. "Do you think he'll blow our cover and publicly 'punish' us as enemy shinobi?"

"I find that unlikely." Saikomi shook her head. "If he does something publicly, it's usually an execution. Yunakomi writes to me about some of the horrors that happen in that village... but unless he decides to kill you he would be more likely to capture you two and take you away quietly."

"I'm not sure I feel any better about that..." Loor frowned. Saikomi noted that the girl held no fear; her face simply hardened.

Saikomi then shook her head, motioning the girls along as she moved for the door. "The transport will be here soon. Come."

The two girls followed obediently, knowing that the quiet of the night was needed to get out unnoticed. They both expected Saikomi to lead them to the door that led outside, but were surprised when she led them into one of the side rooms.

She didn't say anything till she shut the door behind the two girls, letting them look at how the room was set up. Loor was sure this had been an empty room not even a day ago, but now it had a low table and pillows to kneel on. On the table was a single candle, paper, and pens.

"I will allow you two to write a short letter for Tsunade to pass on to whomever you like." Saikomi pushed them gently towards the table. "You may not mention where you are going, or where you are, but if there is someone you wish to assure of your safety..."

Fury smiled softly, and Loor rolled her eyes. Apparently Saikomi had noticed that both girls were romantically involved back home by the boys that had been with them when they left.

Eventually both of them came to kneel at the table, taking to writing quickly and quietly. Saikomi watched them both, noting the differences between the two girls. Fury was writing quickly, yet neatly, using small symbols. Loor, on the other hand, was sloppy, and slow, stopping to think often. It seemed she didn't quite know the language as well as she should have, and eventually she gave up and started drawing little pictures to express what she wanted to say.

Saikomi noted this as another thing she wanted to talk to Tsunade about, and then turned to leave the room for a little while.

Loor and Fury didn't notice, working in hopes to put down all they wanted in whatever limited time they had. They had both done the same thing, knowing that the letter would first be sent to Tsunade; giving a short status report and asking that the rest of the letter be passed off to their respective boys.

And so Fury wrote to Kiba, and Loor wrote to Gaara. Fury may have been printing beautifully, and Loor may have been filling up a page with little doodles with a few words in the middle, but they were both expressing just about the same thing.

Loneliness. Wishing to be at the side of their loved one once more.

Loor filled up the paper she'd been given first, leaning down and kissing the page before rolling it up properly and leaving it next to the candle, folding her hands in her lap.

Fury finished a few moments later, clearly tearing up as she rolled the paper she'd been given to write on.

The two sisters looked at each other. Fury was near crying, and Loor's face was hardened and cold, but in that moment they shared comfort and understanding.

A moment later, Saikomi opened the door.

"It's time."

The sisters rose from the table, following Saikomi.

Both girls just tried to think positively.

They tried to think that in just three nights, they'd be on the run and on their way home.

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama... our scout from Konoha as returned."

"Hm? And what is his report, Kabuto?"

Kabuto had entered with his head down. This was his usual posture, but if he could lower his head any further than it already was, he would have.

It was the sign that he did not bear good news for his master.

"They're not there."

The face that Orochimaru made was that of annoyance, first glaring at Kabuto and then shaking his head. "One has to hate chasing a shinobi down... even two of them. They never hold still... I imagine our girls are becoming rather successful shinobi, and Tsunade is keeping them very busy. They could be anywhere..."

Kabuto dared to raise his chin off of his chest, looking over his glasses. "What should we do?"

"What else was in the report?"

He dropped his head back down, once again wishing he could somehow drop further in posture under his master's even and laser-like gaze.

"... nothing. He had nothing else to report besides that."

The snake chuckled, though it was not a happy sound in the least. It was the way a person laughed when given bad news they were pessimistically expecting. "Oh... so he never got in... so... is he lying? Or did he get caught and had to confess his mission to keep from going into Konoha's torture chambers? And... is it the truth?"

"He seemed quite sure that they were not in the village, Orochimaru."

His master nodded slightly, thinking before concluding something with a twisted smile.

"... Tsunade... you are cruel..."

"Hm?"

"She sent him back to me, knowing he would return despite knowing his punishment for getting caught. And now, he lies to me. Tsunade knows what the scout means... she knows I'm looking for the girls. But did _she _lie to keep them safe, or tell the truth knowing I would have no where else to look?"

"Tsunade has never had a problem with self-serving deception."

"True... true... but if it were a lie, she would have told my scout they were on a mission. She'd give him the whole story, something to tell me to keep me blind. But she didn't... she simply said they were not there."

"How do you know?"

"If she had said more, our scout would have said more in his report... which means the girls are out of the village... Either a mission or travel, though together I'd suspect a mission more. Two needles in a great big haystack... now the question is, how do we find them?"

He looked down upon Kabuto, expectantly.

"This is usually where you would answer me, Kabuto."

"It would be, if I had an answer. We have no information on where they might have gone. What are you going to have us do? Scour the world?"

"That would be a waste..." Orochimaru tentatively agreed. "I suppose we could send my little... _pet_ after them, but I doubt he'd find them. But we need to find them... while they're still together."

"Perhaps... that is our lead." Kabuto's voice was soft, as if he feared putting in an unfinished idea as a suggestion. His fear was justified, as Orochimaru gave his full attention, at once expecting more.

That fear became his motivation to get his brain to work faster... or at least to get his mouth to buy him some time to think.

"We found that they were separating, Loor going off to Suna. It was by chance that we intercepted the message of notification from Konoha to Suna, but if Loor is... changing employment, as it were, the fact that we know could play to our advantage. She's on a mission now, but after that she's probably leaving. More than that, both she and Fury are out. Tsunade knows how well the two work together, they're probably on the same mission."

"Get to the point, Kabuto."

"The point is that if we dig deeper into Loor's transfer, we may just find out what this mission is because it will be noted in the official document as her deadline of service to Konoha. Of course such documents are tough to weasel out, but..." He actually managed to smile at his master. "I do believe I know just the set of light fingered hands to go find it."

"Interesting... And what if they aren't together? What if they're separated?"

"I'm sure one knows where the other sister is. Some time and proper... _encouragement,_ and either one will tell us what we need to know."

"Good enough. Get to work, tell me when you find something."

Kabuto left quickly, knowing better than to say anything of a farewell. His brisk pace didn't slacken after getting away from Orochimaru, feeling focused. He told Orochimaru he knew of the right set of hands to lift those documents, but the truth was that the set of hands he knew belonged to someone who wasn't exactly trustworthy.

Not since a particular mission, a year and a half ago.

His brisk walk brought him to a dreaded part of the compound, one that he would avoid if it didn't provide him with so many fresh bodies to practice his medicines on. It was a dark, somewhat damp, hole of a place, bearing as little light as possible and giving off the effect of eternal night.

This place was the prison.

The prison was always tended by one person. The tender didn't do anything other than give the prisoners water, as most of them were ordered to be starved till they became obedient. They were never deprived of water though, as it contained a chemical that prevented the body from producing chakra. They needed it to live, but it left them feeble and unable to escape.

The tender, for the last year, had been a boy by the name of Rishu.

Rishu knew the truth of who Loor and Fury really were, and where they were really from. He had convinced Loor to advance her mark, but the problem was that he had returned to Otogure with a changed perspective.

He was no longer as obedient. He had learned to think, and argue. Qualities that the master frowned upon. When it became obvious that Rishu was likely to run, he was brought closer in. Instead of working outside the compound, in the sunlight, he worked inside, where he was watched more carefully than the prisoners he kept alive.

"Rishu!"

Perhaps Kabuto pitied the boy. Never seeing the sun, stuck watching stinking doors with prisoners behind them; it was certainly a bleak way to live. But Kabuto felt it was a fate undeserved. He had come to question authority, yes, but he had not rejected it yet.

Maybe he felt it was time to set him free, even though Kabuto knew it would be at his expense if Rishu ran.

The boy, who was in the middle of handing out water, looked up to the balcony that ran around the room. "Kabuto-san!" He greeted, his paling face breaking into a withered smile. "Need another body? Cell twelve is near dead, if you want her."

"No, no, I'm not here for things of that manner." Kabuto turned to the side, walking to the stairs that would bring him down to the main floor. "I have a job for you... that would get you out of this stinking hole for a while."

"Really?!" Rishu's smile grew wider, reminiscent of the boy's actual age of fifteen. A year of being in this hole had turned him into something of the walking dead, his normally tan skin and vibrant copper colored hair fading and graying in the dark. Even his eyes, once yellow and bright, had dulled to an ugly green-gray. "Orochimaru trust me again, does he?"

"No, but I do." Kabuto corrected, getting to ground floor and approaching Rishu slowly. He stood at arms length, trying to match the smile the boy displayed. "It's optional. If you do not want it, I will give the mission to someone else."

"You think I'd let someone else take it when I might get out of this place?" Rishu questioned. "Tell me, Kabuto, what is the mission?"

Kabuto looked carefully at Rishu. He wondered how sorry he felt for the boy, and how much he was willing to suffer if the boy ran off. The grin that showed on Rishu's face was something of joy. It was an expression that never showed on anyone in this place unless they had gotten the job of executing someone.

But Rishu wasn't like the people that lived within the compound. The others, Orochimaru's other favored servants, his warriors, the ones so glad to be close to the master, were like trained hounds. They all lived for the hunt, the killing, the violence that Orochimaru commanded of them so often. They came in different breeds, the grunts, the geniuses, the assassins, and more, but they were all here willingly. They all saw Orochimaru as something of a god, or perhaps a father.

Rishu flashed a look of utter hatred at the mention of the snake.

In this moment Kabuto made another sudden decision. It was one of self preservation.

"It's a informational recon mission." Kabuto explained. "If you decide to go, I will be going with you."

Rishu's grin faded slightly, what little spark had come to his eyes fading back. Still, he covered the falter and tried to look enthusiastic again. "Where to?"

Kabuto wanted to curse. The boy _was_ planning on running. He had thought this was a chance that had fallen right into his lap.

"Konoha. You're already familiar with the village from your previous work. We'll be looking for documents relating to two targets we're looking for."

"Oh?" Rishu's expression grew sly, fox-like. Kabuto could sense the boy plotting. Konoha was a big place. Maybe he thought he could run there and never be found. "Who are we looking to pluck from that village now?"

"You know them. Loor and her sister, Fury."

Rishu shut down at the very mention of Loor.

Gone was the plotting, whatever clever plan the boy might have made, or otherwise. The second she was mentioned, he went from grinning and open to having his eyes narrowed into a glare and his lips pressed together, making a thin and hard line.

"Find someone else." Rishu said, turning back to the cart he had been pushing around the room. It had containers of water in it, which he pushed under the prison doors through the wooden flaps built into them.

Kabuto sighed slightly. "Rishu..."

"I don't care, whatever you have to say. If I go with you, do that mission... I'm not helping that _sick _son of a bitch bring her here. Even if it is a chance to see the sun... the possibility to get out..." He growled. "She doesn't belong here. Orochimaru would never break her."

"Rishu, you don't realize what you're doing to yourself!" Kabuto suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him fiercely in the eye. "The longer you take punishment here, the closer you come to ending up in one of these cells! If you don't start taking and completing missions again you will suffer the same fate as the very people you tend to every day! Think about it... you _see _what happens to them. You know how this system works. You know there's no escape but to submit."

"You think you can scare me?"

Kabuto blinked.

"So what? There might be a cell with my name on it. Maybe even the executioner's blade. I'll either escape from this place... or die. But I will not die in _pathetic,_ _disgusting, _service to that snake. I have no fear left."

Kabuto had nothing to say. Rishu's words showed something no one else in this place had. Something that Loor had given him in the short time that Rishu had dealt with her.

A backbone. Spirit.

"Find someone else." He said with finality. "I won't help him."

* * *

Does everyone remember Rishu? I hope so. XP

See you punks next time.

**No ownage!**

-Loor


	28. Arrival

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Eight- Arrival**

Loor and Fury were more comfortable this time as they moved. The transport was similar to the one that took them from Konoha, but the carriage in the back had seats this time as well as windows. The girls were able to sit on padded benches and look outside as they traveled.

Fury took the chance to sleep, in hopes of looking more together when they met the Okiya mother Yunakomi. Loor, on the other hand, remembered the fact that when they left they'd be walking back. Despite the fact that she wanted to sleep too, she stared out the window instead. Even in the darkness of night she tried to memorize the landscape, her eyes taking note of anything interesting. Maybe a tree with a branch cut off, little shrines set up on the side of the road meant to give good luck to travelers, sign posts and what cities they pointed to, and anything else she could try and remember.

Just long enough for it to get them back home.

As she looked outside she took note of the moon. It was a place her gaze often went; pretty much every time she went outside her eyes tracked up to the moon. It was hardly more than a sliver, having been the new moon a night or two ago. In about a week and a half it would be full once more.

She worried for Gaara, frowning. Would he drain himself, like she taught him? It would seem that he preferred to run away, but perhaps that habit came from their separation. Maybe he used his own method to handle his madness because he didn't want to do things that reminded him of her. Now that they were together again, maybe he would do things the way she had taught him.

She worried still. Every time the moon rotated itself into it's full shape, she worried that someday she'd be like him. She suspected that someday Lyra would fall to Shukaku's madness and try to take her over.

Her mind argued with that. Lyra had stayed true to her original personality. That personality may have been bloodthirsty, but Lyra always needed a reason to want to kill someone. Loor imagined if Lyra ever gained the power to take over, and to kill, she would only do it for a good reason.

"You know, I am here. You could talk to me about this."

Loor glanced away from the window and into the cart, but she saw nothing but Fury sleeping in her seat, slumped and peaceful. With a slight frown she looked back outside and, blinking, she found Lyra walking alongside the cart. The beast was on all fours, but since she had gained her greater size she stood like a small horse. She walked with her head even with the window, looking in and smirking slightly at Loor.

Loor blinked at her sudden appearance, as she always did, but sighed. "What's to say? You've changed so much... and at the same time you haven't. I almost don't know what to expect from you anymore."

"I'm shocked!" Lyra gave a cackle. "I haven't changed one bit. You're just not used to dealing with me, not even after a year. You know exactly what to expect from me, you just have to look to how I acted before... and then add in the fact that I will _act. _You remember the feeling... things you blamed on me. Times you lashed out and said you just couldn't control yourself, or times you went chasing after boys with the same excuse. The only difference now is that since we're separated you can fight me off."

"I can try." Loor said dryly. "You're pretty good at overpowering me."

"Not really..." Lyra shook her head. Her voice dropped slightly. It was still honeyed and smooth, like music on the breeze, but the look she gave to Loor was almost sympathetic. "The times that I can overtake you are times when I'm acting upon what you want. Perhaps I could push you different ways now, make you do things that you don't want to do, with the power that's been given to me... but I see no point in it."

"But... it's Shukaku's power that brought you to life. I figured you'd be like him... wanting to kill everything for your own gain, using your host... me... like a puppet. I figured that eventually you'd get powerful enough, decide that you don't need me anymore, and go nuts."

Loor blinked as Lyra laughed loudly, her teeth showing in a horrific grin as she gritted them together, trying to stop giggling. "Just because he helped in my birthing doesn't mean I'll turn into him! After a year of life, most of the power I have is mine. Shukaku might have given us the base, the foundation, but with the rotations of the moon it grew into something that was not his, but mine." The beast shook her head, her silky hair having gotten in front of her face. With a toss of her head she threw it back, still smirking. "Shukaku's blood lust comes from his life as a man... he was once alive, an old monk. It's bitter hatred that's turned him into a demon, and its also the reason killing grows his power more than the moon. I would have no use for it. I have no hate unless it's also yours."

Loor grew less unsure and far more serious. "What about Orochimaru? That's a hate I'm quite sure we share."

Lyra's beautiful face morphed into an irritated expression. "You made it clear... you do not want my help. I must admit that I cannot stop myself from protecting you when the situation is life or death, but if you wish to kill him on your own..." Lyra sighed. "I suppose I _can_ listen to the stupidity you call logic once in a while."

There was a moment of silence.

"Thank you."

"Don't." The beast seemed very irked. "I just expect you to change your game plan when you realize the way you want to go won't work. I'll let you fight him, but I won't let him kill you... to take your words, there is so much to live for now."

"Do you think we'll see him?"

"I'm actually quite sure of it." Lyra flashed a grin at Loor. "Which means you are too, aren't you?"

"I... have a bad feeling. Usually, my bad feelings are the right ones. We need to stay in control if he does show up... for Fury's sake."

"Ah, the younger sister." Lyra raised her chin to look in on the snoozing sister. Fury had gone from slumped over to laying down on the bench on her side of the cart. "Such an innocent shell... she doesn't have the fighting spirit, but they've managed to beat some skills into her. Enough to make her a force to be reckoned with. Why do you still worry so much?"

"She's my sister. I gotta worry about her... I need to protect her like you need to protect me. If she went... I donno if I'd be able to keep going without her."

"Not quite the same. Grief is something you can get over. If you die, I'm dead. Period."

"It feels the same to me."

* * *

They had arrived at dawn.

Loor had not fallen asleep, but Fury jerked awake when the cart suddenly stopped and Saikomi flung open the doors at the back, letting in pink light from the rising sun. Loor got out first, holding ramrod straight posture and doing her best to play her part. Fury, on the other hand, had just woken up and sort of tripped out of the cart, saving herself from falling into the dirt road at the last second and standing next to her sister.

Saikomi served Fury a quick blow to the head to wake her up. The girl kept from yelping, straightening up at once and looking forward with wide eyes that were trying to appear awake instead of drowsy.

In front of them was the painted red gate to an Okiya. Fury, who could read the nameplate on the gate, said it quietly to herself.

"Yagioke."

The cart was stopped on a dirt road that was packed down so much it might as well have been paved. There were a few other buildings along the street, making a narrow way. As Fury looked about some more, up and down the lane, she realized they truly were at their final destination.

They were in Otogure, hidden village of Sound. Orochimaru's current residence.

She glanced at Loor again and realized her sister's perfect posture and cold face came about because the girl was tense.

"Did you stay awake the whole time?" Fury whispered as Saikomi busied herself with opening the gate for the two of them.

Loor simply nodded as Saikomi led the way in, stopping again as the woman shut the gate behind them.

"So you know the way out of here?"

Loor nodded again, glancing about without moving her head before bending slightly to her sister and whispering; "There wasn't a wall, but there was a checkpoint of shinobi on the way in. They're gonna be the tough part when we're getting out."

"How many?"

"Three man team, classic security detail. The three that stopped us on the way in though were all jonin rank. Best we try to squeak out quietly and not run into any of them."

Fury nodded, the hair raising on the back of her neck.

It was official, the were in enemy territory.

That was easy.

The hard part would be getting out.

"Saikomi!" Someone barked. At once both Loor and Fury stood at attention, looking forward to see that the front garden area of the Okiya had someone standing in it. She was an old woman, older than Saikomi by at least a decade, but she stood tall. She wore the proper robe of a Geisha, and despite its drab and dull colors it might as well been a brilliant rainbow with how the woman carried herself.

Saikomi at once stepped forward, nodding her head in greeting to the older woman. "Yunakomi."

Loor and Fury grew more tense.

This was the mother. Yunakomi.

The old woman walked to meet Saikomi, looking at her old student for a long time before giving a small, almost impossible to see, smile.

Saikomi returned it, and the two women bowed to each other properly.

"So," Yunakomi's sharp voice redirected attention, looking to Loor and Fury. "These are the visitors you bring me? So young..." She looked first at Fury, grabbing the girl by the chin and directing her face left and right. Fury wanted to protest, but as a Maiko she was supposed to be submissive.

She took the treatment silently, and eventually Yunakomi grunted in something of approval before proceeding to Loor. She didn't grab Loor, simply looking intensely at her.

Loor met the woman's gaze, her blue eyes sparking at the treatment of her sister.

"So much fire... Saikomi, are you sure this girl is Geisha? Most Maiko have a spirit like this beaten out of them by the time they're proper age."

"You will not treat my _Imoto-chan_ so roughly." Loor said, not allowing Saikomi to answer. "If you wished to inspect her, you could have simply asked her to turn her head."

Fury wanted to wince, but instead curled her toes in her shoes; something no one would notice. Loor was gonna blow it on a temper tantrum!

Yunakomi snapped back to looking at Loor, eyes narrowed.

"What is your name, Geisha?"

"Ryuuyume."

"Dragon-dream. And such truth it does speak." Yunakomi once again gave an ever-so-slight smile. "Saikomi had a spirit like yours once. It was broken when she underwent her rite of passage; the _mizuwage _tradition. How did you pass such a thing with so much fire in your eyes?"

"Perhaps I was stronger than Saikomi." Loor suggested, holding eye-contact with the old Geisha woman.

"We shall see." Yunakomi suddenly turned toward the Okiya, waving her hand for them to follow. "Come!"

Loor and Fury followed, but Saikomi remained outside. Fury looked at her, risking looking unprofessional to give the woman a look of worry and confusion.

Saikomi actually smiled, and waved before turning back to the cart.

Yunakomi led Loor and Fury into a polished hallway within the Okiya that was much like the hall in Saikomi's home. Loor wondered if Okiya were built according to a common floor plan.

Saikomi kept a brisk pace after giving time for everyone to take their shoes off at the door, leading the way to a door and throwing it open.

The area within was obviously a living space that someone had to themselves. There were scrolls, artwork on the walls, a small chest for clothes, and other personal items. Also, sitting on a bedroll, reading one of the many scrolls in the room, was a young woman.

Loor guessed her to be sixteen or seventeen, and in the way she looked up slowly when the door opened broadcasted an arrogant attitude. She was dressed down to an under kimono, splayed about and yet still elegant looking.

"Himori." Yunakomi used the girl's name as a short greeting. She then shoved Loor into the room. "See that our guest is... proper."

Loor looked back with an angry reply caught in her throat as Yunakomi snapped the door shut. Loor could hear her steps fading off somewhere, taking Fury with her.

Then, slowly, she looked back to the girl named Himori.

The girl had hefted herself up from where she had been reading, looking at Loor from a slight height advantage. Loor was a naturally short person, but Himori seemed to know she was taller and it only added to her arrogant air.

Loor had the vague thought of Neji as a woman.

"So... Saikomi suspects our guest of trying to slip a rank?" Himori questioned with a smug smile. "Don't let Yunakomi scare you. She's always standoffish to outsiders. But... I do have to check you. Please, take off your kimono.

Usually, Loor would be pleased to take off the cursed garment she had been forced to dress up in, but the problem was that currently, hidden under her obi, was her headband. It would be hard to take off the robes and hide the little piece of metal at the same time.

Everything was happening so fast, she feared she would start to get dizzy.

"Please." Himori's smile grew even more smug. "I don't bite."

Loor sighed softly, and nodded, slowly moving to remove her kimono. She did it quickly, and didn't fold anything properly, and was able to bunch up her headband within the obi as she took it off. As the obi came off she had the urge to take a huge-sucking inhale and fully expand her lungs after wearing the corset-like thing, but resisted for the sake of image.

Once she had her robes open, Himori took no shame in kneeling down and examining her. Loor wanted to jump away and smack the girl, but instead bit her tongue and clenched her fists.

But Tsunade had been right in sending Loor to break herself properly, or else she never would have passed this test.

"How long ago?" Himori asked while standing back up, giving Loor the nod of approval. She had passed. Loor stared to dress herself again, carefully, transferring her headband into the long draping sleeves of her kimono while answering Himori's question.

"A few months." Loor lied, hoping that was the right answer. She didn't know how long it took from the _mizuwage _tradition before a Geisha started flying solo, and teaching someone else.

Himori just nodded slightly. "You have scars. You must not have liked him that much."

Loor bit her tongue on just how much she disliked Neji, and what she had done with him. She just nodded while securing her obi around her after arranging the layers of her kimono.

"You are stiff." Himori took Loor's shoulders, turning her and looking her in the eye. "You needn't act so proper in the Okiya. We have no younglings to gain bad examples. In the Okiya, we are safe. Save your proper behavior for when you have an audience."

"What about Yunakomi?" Loor questioned, dropping a little out of the proper tone she forced herself into, her brash voice peaking through. "She seemed pretty..."

Himori snorted, waving her hand as if to dispel smoke. "You are an outsider. Even after you have been proven true, she will always glare under her brow. But you are with us for a short time. She can do nothing to you."

There was a knock upon the wooden frame of the door, and Himori turned as someone called from the other side of it.

"_Onee-san!_ I got the decorations you requested!"

Himori smiled, reminding Loor once again of Neji. She got the feeling that Himori was only being friendly because she felt like she was on the same level of superiority as her. By status, they were equal.

"Come in, Daiske."

In came a younger girl, perhaps fifteen, dressed in an under kimono like Himori was, carrying several objects in her hands, cupped together and forward as if she was making an offering to the gods at a temple. Like all Geisha and Maiko, she had black hair that was grown long and styled properly.

In her hands, she held several glittering hair decorations. The sticks that Geisha used with dangling ornaments, a pin with a blown glass orchid topping it, and things of that nature. There was plenty to choose from, and Himori looked over the collection of bejeweled decorations with a smile of approval.

"Well done, _Imoto-chan." _Himori's arrogant smirk grew wider. "Put them down and shut the door."

Daiske, as was called, knelt and set the decorations out like they were precious. They probably were. She then turned and properly shut the door, turning once more to make a complete circle and nearly tripping. Loor at once reached out to catch her, but Himori responded to the clumsy action with a quick hit across the face.

Daiske took the hit hard, but stayed on her feet and did not cry out.

"Klutz." Himori scolded. "Turn back the same way you turned away, and you will not get so dizzy."

"Yes... Yes _Onee-san." _Daiske nodded, looking down and kneeling again, picking through the things she had brought in. "What color are you wearing tonight, _Onee-san? _Might I suggest the gold kimono? The red in this set would go lovely with it..."

"I believe one of our guests might be wearing that one tonight." Himori smirked. "They're taking your performance space for a full three days, you know."

"Yours and mine, _Onee-san."_

"Yes, but I still have a use besides playing shamisen and singing." Himori glared down at the feeble Maiko at her feet. "You can hardly pour tea with your clumsy hands."

"I..." Daiske bit her lip. "I still have a use."

Loor blinked, watching this strange scene. It would seem that even the Geisha world was not devoid of bullying. Daiske's voice was too weak, her form too small, to command respect. Himori was taking advantage of that. Loor had to wonder what exactly Daiske had to do to get that selection of jewelry.

Himori seemed to suddenly realize that she was still in company of a fellow Geisha, someone of her class, and glanced over to see if Loor was approving or even appreciating this display. One look at Loor's disgusted frown, and she changed her act.

"Yes." Himori admitted with no enthusiasm what so ever. "Yes you do. You are cheerful, and greet the guests. Now then," She knelt, and motioned Loor to come down and have a look at the treasures that Daiske had hunted up. "why don't we be courteous and let our guest have first pick, and then we shall dress her to match?"

Loor blinked again, and tried not to roll her eyes as she nodded. She wasn't much for picking out decoration, and glanced over the various sets before picking out one featuring deep emerald green and shining silver. It was more likely polished pewter, but it was still pretty, if Loor dared to use the word.

Himori took the red, as Daiske had originally suggested, and directed that the 'other guest' receive the blue.

Several sets were left unloved, but Himori quickly hid them away.

Loor feared that when the Okiya discovered them missing, Daiske would take the heat.

* * *

UPDATE!!!!

Yay.

Five chapters this time for your reading pleasure. I'll put the disclaimer and ultimate author's note at the end. Right now, I'm just getting them up as fast as possible.

-Loor


	29. Preperations

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Twenty Nine- Preparations**

"...Mission?"

"You were Orochimaru-sama's suggestion. My first idea... he refused."

"Why would _he_ suggest me? Just because I'm from that place... he expects me to know how to find what we're looking for?"

"No, that's my job. But once I do find it, you are my better at stealth."

"Don't flatter me, Kabuto. Orochimaru-sama may have mentioned my name, but you'd never ask me before some other lacky without reason."

"Why did you buy your own message hawk, Sasuke?"

The hallway they walked was dark, but it seemed darker when Sasuke came to a sudden stop. Kabuto stopped short of him, having been walking behind him while asking his questions. Yes, Kabuto had come to ask Sasuke to take the mission that Rishu had refused.

But once again, Kabuto found himself with motives other than that of his master. For there were things he knew, things that not even the master knew. But that was Kabuto's job, to know more than the master, and decide how much the master needed to know. It was his own brand of evil, not of the brutality and violence that Orochimaru carried out. No, Kabuto ran information, and played it when it was to his advantage.

Sasuke had been within these walls for some time, a year and a half, as Kabuto had counted, and a year and a half more if Orochimaru had his way to harvest the boy's body for his own intentions. But Sasuke was obedient, and thus had the master's trust.

Sasuke would never run away.

But Kabuto knew that the boy needn't run away when he would simply walk within the fence.

"Well?" Kabuto asked under Sasuke's gaze. "I've seen the food you bring to it, seen it flying now and then. It always circles away from here, like wild birds hunting mice. But you taught it that, didn't you?"

An amazing thing happened at that point of the conversation.

Sasuke blinked.

It was not often someone got one up on him.

"Where does it fly, Sasuke?" Kabuto questioned. "Is it possible that you left something... some_one_ in Konoha that you feel still requires your attention?"

Finally, the boy spoke. "Does _he_ know?"

"He has not seen your bird, nor the direction it tends to fly. I know when you like to take it out, and keep him busy. You should thank me."

Sasuke did nothing but blink again. That was the best Kabuto could hope for.

"Who is she?"

Sasuke started walking again. "That is not of your concern. The mission is. Plus, if you know when I let my bird fly... you could have intercepted my letters and found out that way. You don't really care."

"True, true." Kabuto followed. "My proposal is this. Help me in this mission, and I will reward you with a... very slack leash, if you will."

. . .

"Fine. This will be a great chance."

"A great chance for what?" Kabuto asked.

"To remind myself why I left. Writing letters makes you miss things. If I see the hell hole again, I should remember why I choose to live in this one instead."

"And what if you don't find that reason?" Kabuto questioned. "What if you find yourself nostalgic and wanting to wrap yourself in old memories?"

"Then you'll make me remember." Sasuke said coldly. "You're good at that... you and your like."

* * *

Fury found that the Maiko Daiske was very cheerful, albeit a tad clumsy, and quite enthusiastic about her life in the Okiya. She had brought Fury decoration for her hair and a kimono to match from the Okiya's stores, leading Fury to the guest's quarters that she and her sister would be sharing for the duration of their stay.

"I'm sure Himori will bring your _Onee-san_ here soon." Daiske said while bowing her head, as if she was not worthy to even look upon a fellow Maiko. "Please make yourself comfortable. There are bedrolls and extra blankets, along with neck braces, in the storage compartments in the walls." She pointed to indicate.

"Thank you." Fury said sincerely, gently putting down the folded kimono and hair decorations that had been given to her for the evening and walking up to Daiske. "Is Himori helping _Onee-san_ pick out a kimono to ware?"

"Yes." Daiske nodded. "Once you and your _Onee-san _are settled in, there are women here to do everyone's hair for tonight. Yunakomi asks that you prepare quickly, as many of our guests do have a habit of arriving early. The sooner we are ready and the Okiya open, the more pleased our patrons will be."

"I understand." Fury was now giving Daiske a look. The girl looked... almost scared. "Is... something wrong?"

Daiske glanced up, looking to her feet again and shaking her head. "N-no. I am just not used to having guests. Usually it is just _Onee-san _and _Okaa-san_ and me. _Onee-san_ says that it will be my responsibility to see that you and your _Onee-san_ are comfortable."

"Call her Ryuuyume." Fury requested. "All the titles make it really confusing to keep track of who is who. Just use people's names."

Daiske looked to Fury as if she had just suggested the girl grow wings and fly away. "But..! It is not proper!"

"Maybe not, but this is the safe place for Geisha, isn't it?"

Daiske sighed. "For some. Those of us that are lower status..." She gave Fury a look. "Does your _Onee-san_ not treat you something like a servant?"

"No!" Fury gave, suddenly shocked. "Should she?"

Daiske shook her head. "Nevermind it. Please, I will go fetch your _Onee.... _Ryuuyume. She has taken too long with Himori."

Daiske ran out, and Fury was left with her thoughts as she busied herself in dragging out bedrolls and blankets for herself and Loor. Once that was done she took her headband out from behind her obi, quickly stuffing it into her bedroll, kicking it all the way down to hide it. She figured that their quarters would not be searched, so as long as it wasn't in plain sight, things were good.

A moment later, Loor came in with Daiske at her heel. In Loor's arms was a kimono of lush green, shining silver accents, and matching jewelry to go in her hair once it was done up properly.

Daiske bowed her head while closing the door behind Loor, not saying a word.

"I'm really getting to hate Himori." Loor said after a few seconds, shaking her head.

"Me too." Fury sighed, sitting on her bedroll. "And I haven't even met her."

"Classic slave-master relationship, with Himori on top." Loor copied her sister, pulling the same stunt with hiding her headband. "She shoves Daiske around without real reason, giving her smacks over the head for everything. When Daiske came to get me, Himori yelled at her for not coming sooner, even though she hadn't told Daiske to come back for me in the first place. The girl is a bully and a bitch."

"You don't say..." Fury shook her head. "Thank God we only have to deal with them for three days... though I do feel a bit sorry for Daiske."

"We don't have time for that." Loor snipped. "Remember, _Imoto-chan. _They're technically the enemy. We need to be careful."

"_Hai, Onee-san." _

"Right. So let's remember what we're doing here. Tonight is scout night. Get in, blend in, get a good feel for the place. Don't be too obvious, but look for all the nooks and crannies where one of us could hide in a pinch. Tsunade would rather those scrolls returned than destroyed."

"I know, I know." Fury nodded vigorously. "But first we're going to have to perform... do you think we'll be up to this?"

"Well, according to me, my shamisen playing sounds like a three year old with a guitar, but Saikomi told me that's how it's supposed to sound. What about you?"

"As long as I don't drop a fan, I'm sure we'll be fine."

* * *

Himori waited impatiently as the two new arrivals were getting ready for working the teahouse. Daiske had taken them to have their hair done up properly, but she and Daiske were already done with that, as was Yunakomi. The Okiya mother was already completely ready, just waiting for everyone else.

Daiske, not far away, looked at her _Onee-san_ as Himori started tapping her foot, bored.

"_Onee-san." _Daiske addressed. "Patience."

Himori gave Daiske a sour look, shaking her head and going over to the girl. Daiske was seating in front of a mirror, washing her face so Himori could help her with her make up. "Shush _Imoto-chan." _She scolded. "You are hardly one to lecture me."

Daiske nodded slightly, scrubbing her face vigorously with a towel. As she did, Himori got the proper supplies to do her apprentice's face, as well as her own. As soon as Daiske was clean Himori had her drop the shoulders of her under kimono in order to paint the white base onto the girl's face, shoulders, and a bit of her chest.

The two guests, Ryuuyume and Tenshiyume as they were called, arrived in the room as Himori finished with Daiske, about to get a start on herself. She hesitated on the white paint, seeing the Maiko of the pair for the first time. She was a small girl, like Daiske, but with a more assertive air. This, at once, struck Himori's interest. After a brief moment of thought, she got up and turned to the two guests, a smile on her face.

"Ryuuyume!" She greeted as if she and the fellow Geisha were best friends. "This is your _Imoto-chan?"_

Ryuuyume, who looked like she was rather disgusted with all her hair being pulled up so tight, looked to Himori with a raised eyebrow. "Hm? Oh yes, this is Tenshiyume."

"Tenshiyume." Himori said as if trying it on for size. "I have a wonderful idea." She said, now speaking to Tenshiyume. "How about I help you with your make up tonight, and your _Onee-san_ helps my _Imoto-chan _with her kimono?"

Tenshiyume looked up, stricken timid by being addressed directly. "Uh... um..." She looked to her sister for guidance.

The elder of the two smiled and nodded slightly. "Why not?"

Himori grinned, gently pushing Daiske towards Ryuuyume. "Wonderful. Then us Geisha can do our own make up and get dressed together."

Ryuuyume ushered Daiske away without reply. Himori sniffed slightly, catching a glare the Geisha guest shot back at her, and shook her head to smile at Tenshiyume.

"Daiske says you treat her like a servant." The small girl said, looking up at Himori and generating a presence that she wasn't used to a Maiko having.

"I do not." Himori protested innocently, gently guiding her guest to the mirrors. "I discipline her when she messes up, letting pain cement the memory of what she does wrong."

"Why not use positive reinforcement instead of negative?"

Himori frowned slightly at the Maiko. "Who are you to tell me how to teach my apprentice?"

She fell silent while sitting in the chair, leaning down to wash her face. Himori frowned at her before putting her smile back on, watching the girl come up and begin scrubbing her face gently with the towel.

"You're doing it wrong." Himori pointed out. "Scrub harder, or you'll leave dead skin on your face for the face paint to lump up in."

Tenshiyume scrubbed a little harder, but Himori still wasn't satisfied. She seized the towel and started scrubbing for her, despite her protests, taking the whole job from her by scrubbing her face, neck, shoulders, and a little ways down her chest with a rough hand.

When she finally stopped the girl looked up indignantly, as if she wanted to take action against Himori, but she instead looked back into the mirror, biting her tongue.

Himori smirked, and then went for the white paint, getting the girl to turn to her to start covering her face. She held still, making the job easy for Himori, turning around again without being told. Himori started brushing the paint over the girl's shoulders, humming softly to herself, when she noticed something.

Something shocking.

She had half painted over it, but the other half still showed. It must have been covered by skin colored make-up before, thus why the girl was so reluctant to scrub her skin properly.

There, on the guest Maiko's shoulder, was a black mark. A blemish with sealing marks around it that identified it was one thing.

A curse mark. The marks that were found on the ones favored by the leader of the village.

Orochimaru.

Himori hid her notice of the mark, painting over it. Not out of benevolence.

Oh no.

If someone with a mark was in an Okiya, that meant they were hiding in plain sight. If that were true, Himori would need to know who they were.

She would need something of the 'Maiko's' identity.

Himori knew the handsome rewards that went with bringing in someone the Otokage was looking for. Perhaps enough for her to run off and start her own teahouse, in a place not so oppressed.

Himori smiled brightly at the fake Maiko for the rest of the time she had with her.

This girl, whoever she was, was Himori's ticket out into the wide world.

* * *

"Where did you get that jewelry from?"

Loor asked this question as she assisted Daiske in dressing in her kimono- a beautiful shade of soft pink with trims of emerald green, her obi depicting a grove of cherry trees in bloom. Her hair decorations, which were what had brought Loor to ask about the jewelry from before, were also pink.

At first, Daiske didn't speak.

"Why did you get so many sets?" Loor asked, trying a different angle, pulling the obi tight and making the proper knot. "There are only four of us. There must have been at least eight."

"Himori asked me to." Daiske said quietly. "She wanted a selection."

"But she took all that were left." Loor mentioned. "Is she allowed to do that?"

Daiske hesitated before answering. "We share the room. She puts them with my things. She doesn't care. She thinks they're pretty and likes them around. Sometimes they vanish before _Okaa-san_ notices. Sometimes..." The Maiko made a painful expression under her facepaint.

Loor winced. "Vanish?" She questioned, going after the less painful subject.

"Himori wants to get away from here. Otogure is... there are sometimes raids and random executions. She fears for her life, but covers it up. She says she's going to get money, get away, start her own teahouse. She sells everything she can get her hands on."

"You mean, anything she can get you to steal."

Daiske nodded, silent.

"Why don't you tell Yunakomi?"

"I helped her. I am as much at fault as she is."

Loor frowned, sighing and nodding. She had noticed that much of Geisha life, on the discipline side, was about who's fault it was.

So, in that, she decided to change the subject.

"Why don't you have a similar name to Himori?"

"I did not become a Maiko under her." Daiske answered. "I graduated under my _Okaa-san_ in another Okiya... but it's gone now... burned. When I become Geisha, I will adopt Himori's name, but for now I am... something of an orphan."

Loor nodded sadly, finishing the knot and turning Daiske to see that she looked proper. She was quite pretty, despite the fact that she was wearing pink.

Loor hated pink. Still, she made an effort to smile at the girl. She liked Daiske, at least a whole hell of a lot more than she liked Himori.

Himori was just a bitch that liked to take advantage of people.


	30. Searching Art

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty- Searching Art**

"Rishu?"

Rishu had been catching a brief nap. He had no real sleeping quarters, always minding the prison, so there was a grass mat that he would lay upon in the middle of the room when he so chose to get some rest. The floor was somewhat damp, so it was miserable conditions to sleep in without a blanket, but it was the conditions he had been living in for more than a year now.

He didn't lift his head when he heard his name called. He tried to file it away as a waking dream, too close to sleep to give it up easily.

"Rishu... you're breathing too heavy to be sleeping. Get up."

He groaned, rolling over and sitting up on his mat, turning to the voice that had called his name. That was the problem with living in a compound full of highly trained shinobi. They could all tell whether or not you were sleeping.

Rishu was shocked right out of sleep when he saw who had come to visit him.

Sasuke stood before him, on the main floor of the prison.

"Sasuke-sama!" Rishu addressed at once, getting to his knees and bowing properly. Sasuke was very high in the pecking order, and as little as Rishu liked following the rules of this place, people who didn't show Sasuke proper respect were known to show up with their heads missing.

"Don't bother." Sasuke scolded, seeming a little less than his usual cold self.

Rishu sensed something in that. Sasuke's voice was not as monotone as it always was. There was something of an inflection, which was rare. Rishu lifted his head and sat up straight, putting his hands in his lap and studying Orochimaru's lap dog. Sasuke's cold demeanor was showing cracks, as his face had the vague expression of concern on it.

"Why did you refuse the mission?" Sasuke asked, cutting to the chase.

Rishu blinked, and shook his head. "Kabuto went to you, then? Seems something rather simple for the master's personal _pet." _

"Answer my question." Sasuke snapped, glaring. His obsidian eyes gave a flash of red, and Rishu could feel the young man's power held at bay. Sasuke seemed just a little bit out of his mind.

"Answer mine." Rishu batted back. "Did you accept it?"

"I had to." Sasuke replied. "If I refused a mission, no matter how small, Orochimaru would withhold valuable training from me."

"I see..." Rishu sighed. "Then I have nothing to say to you."

"Why?" Sasuke questioned, taking a step forward to loom over Rishu. "What's wrong with going to Konoha?"

"Did he tell you who you're looking for?" Rishu asked, looking up at Sasuke as if he were nothing than a tall and yet utterly harmless puppy dog. He would not be intimidated by the master's pet. "Did he tell you who they're trying to find? Who they're trying to bring here?"

Sasuke growled. "Kabuto didn't need to tell me... I knew."

"Then _why_ did you accept it? Weren't they your friends?"

"My world has no room for friends."

"But it has room for fear." Rishu snorted. "Kabuto knows too much, I think... enough to scare you. Enough for it to show in your eyes. Tell me..." His yellow eyes gained some of their spark, looking up at Sasuke from under his furrowed brow. "What does Kabuto have that can strike fear, even into you?"

Sasuke looked to the side, at one of the cells in the room. He stared at it, silent, knowing as well as Rishu what treatment prisoners underwent. Weeks of starvation and darkness, isolated and incapable of hearing sounds on the outside thanks to a jutsu that was renewed every few weeks by Rishu himself. Nothing but chemical laced water, draining away their chakra to keep them trapped.

Sasuke knew what happened after that, if they survived. If they were simply prisoners from other villages, they were kept till they starved, but many people in the cells were put there for disobedience to the master. They would be starved like this, put to the end of their rope, and then brought before Orochimaru himself to see if they had changed their minds.

And if not, they faced the executioner's blade in mortal combat. If they won, they won their way right back into a cell, to be starved the rest of the way to death.

There were only two choices. Surrender, or die.

"If _he_ knew why..." Sasuke mused. "He would keep me here for the rest of my days."

"You think I would tell him?"

"No..." Sasuke shook his head. "You wouldn't. Kabuto knows about my bird."

Rishu twitched. He also knew about Sasuke's bird. He kept the beast down in a prison cell when he knew Sasuke's quarters were going to be looked into. The soundproofing worked both ways, so the hawk could screech all it wanted and no one would hear it.

"More than that... I'm almost sure he knows who I'm communicating with. He's promised me... that I will be able to see the person."

"Shall I send her a message foretelling your arrival?" Rishu asked.

"No... Kabuto and I plan to make better time than that. I'd arrive before the message. We are to leave tonight, find what we need quickly, and return before midnight tomorrow. Keep my bird down here while I'm gone... I do not know how much Kabuto has shared with Orochimaru-sama. Best to be on our toes."

"She will be so glad to see you..." Rishu said softly, smiling slightly.

He knew about the letters Sasuke wrote, about the bitter romance they carried between him and a girl he had left behind in Konoha. It was one of the little things that made life in the cave-like prison bearable. Sasuke would let him read some of the letters, but never let him know the girl's name. He insisted upon that secret. The only reason Rishu got to see the letters at all was because he was in on the secret and kept the bird from time to time.

Rishu smiled, happy that Sasuke would be granted a small joy that many within the compound would never know.

Romance was not forbidden, but love was something very few would find, as affections for another often led to hopes of escape, betrayal of the master, and eventually, death. What Sasuke was doing was most certainly out of bounds, but Rishu trusted him to be smart enough to avoid notice by people less... intruding and observant than Kabuto.

But Sasuke was rather close to the top. Many eyes watched him.

"So..." Sasuke sighed. "Why _did_ you refuse?"

"How could I help capture the girl who saved my life? Or her sister? Neither will follow orders... they will end up here, where they do not belong."

"Saved your life?" Sasuke questioned. "Loor's never saved anyone's life... not literally."

"Perhaps not... but you have met her. You may know what I'm talking about... she has an effect. She sees things, and addresses them at once. Fears, flaws, goals, anxieties... and beyond that she is too interesting not to question. She perks so much curiosity that you must speak to her, and then she takes you into a web of words... she tells you you're wrong, and shows you right."

"I know." Sasuke nodded. He too had tasted Loor's treatment once upon a time. Her words, her cryptic behavior. He knew exactly of what Rishu spoke. "She pushes you. She pushed me... and you are right. She does not belong here."

Rishu gave Sasuke a look. "Could you...?"

"No... the mission is given. I must do as I am told. But I fear what Loor and Fury would bring with their presence. If Loor was ever let among everyone else... she'd start a revolution. An uprising. And if Fury were concerned... she would rage war on the master himself to save her sister."

"Then what can we possibly hope for?" Rishu questioned.

"Pray that whatever mission they were sent on..." Sasuke turned to leave. "It's already over, and they're back in Konoha, with Loor getting ready to move. Once they're separated and safe in their villages, they might become more trouble than they're worth."

"Nothing becomes too much trouble to the master." Rishu muttered glumly. "He is... obsessive."

"You noticed." Sasuke snorted.

* * *

"Himori! _Onee-san!_ _Okaa-san _is getting impatient. Please hurry."

Himori snorted at Daiske's voice on the other side of the door. Everyone else was already ready to go, and so was Himori, but she had pretended to have trouble with her kimono while changing with Ryuuyume in the guest quarters. She was fully dressed, and was now inspecting the room.

She needed to find proof that the fake Maiko was not who she claimed to be.

"I'm almost done, _Imoto-chan. _My kimono is being difficult."

She had already looked in the compartments where the bedding had been kept, under their bedrolls, under the extra blankets, and in the kimonos they had arrived in. Himori knew she had little time before Yunakomi herself would coming looking for her, to see what was taking a proper Geisha so long in putting on a kimono.

She walked across the room to look in the storage compartments again, sticking her head in and looking up and down, pouting and glaring. This was her chance, and she couldn't even find proof beyond the mark! She needed to have something she could take in order to report, and she wasn't going to cut the patch of skin off!

On second thought, it wasn't a bad idea.

Himori shook her head, shutting the compartment again and sighing, looking about furiously. They had nothing. Nothing but the clothes they had come with. Neither the Maiko or the Geisha, who Himori also suspected of being false.

"Himori!"

"Coming!" Himori responded. "I just got my obi right."

She tried to straighten her scrunched up face, walking over the bedrolls to get back to the door. She'd find other chances to search their room, she was sure.

She stopped when she felt something under her foot. It was hard, and curved. She looked down, standing on the 'Maiko's' bedroll. There was something _in_ the bedroll.

"Himori!"

That was Yunakomi's voice. Himori didn't have time to find out what it was.

She hustled to the door, opening it and bowing her head to apologize.

She would have to come back later and find out what she had stepped on. All she would need is an excuse to get back into the room, and she'd have her evidence.

She'd sneak out in the night... and never come back.

* * *

This was Fury's first time in a proper tea house.

Loor had been on several outings with Saikomi, but Fury was still uneducated as to what they looked like or even how they worked.

It was a building much like the Okiya, and this teahouse was contained within the same fence. It was beautiful and traditionally built, with paper doors and lanterns, red wood, woven tama mats, and scrolls of poetry hung on the walls with artwork following the lines. This was not a place for a small tea ceremony, but a place to do business behind closed doors. There were low and long tables, cushions to kneel on, and a long stage on the other side of the room meant for Maiko to dance upon while Geisha played shamisen. There was plenty of open space between, where there was the entrance on one side of the long room and a sliding door at the other side that led to where they made and kept the tea ready, and where the scrolls of poetry were stored, as well as a small bathroom for the working women.

As afternoon sank to night, Fury saw that all the patrons were men. Several smoked, and one of the jobs delegated to herself and Daiske was lighting cigarettes and cigars as well as pouring tea. The patrons would provide their own means of lighting it, be it a match book or an actual lighter, but they still had the girls light it for them.

Daiske was very bad at pouring tea, as she had clumsy hands. She would become nervous and wouldn't be able to keep a good hold on the teapot, or knock over the patron's cup, or spill on her own kimono. So she was left lighting cigars and cigarettes and Fury did most of the tea pouring.

Fury noticed that Loor, Himori, and Yunakomi did not actually do much of the work. Yunakomi gave a proper welcome to those assembled from the long stage before she herded Himori and Loor to the low tables of people and sat among them. They didn't drink the tea, mainly not to mess up their make-up but also because it was unprofessional.

What they did do was talk with the men.

Yunakomi, despite her age, would flirt shamelessly with the men about her, disrupting their talk of money and buying and selling, but they took it willingly. The Geisha's company was why they were there. Himori and Loor were to do the same, and Himori did it in the same way that Yunakomi did, but Loor simply slipped in between two men and sat politely till they said something she could comment on, joining the conversation instead of breaking it up.

Fury tried not to be irked, knowing they were both playing their roles, but was a little annoyed that hers included getting her fingerprints seared off on a hot porcelain teapot and Loor's included being social and laughing with other people while sitting on a cushion instead of kneeling on hard woven tama mats.

But as Fury went to get more tea, she realized that her role was about to become a bit more important than blending in.

She was in the tea room, a huge reservoir set into a knee-high cabinet holding the tea they had ready for the night, hot water in the space around the pot keeping it piping hot and ready without burning it. There were three of these reservoirs, because there were three common teas the patrons generally liked. Fury hadn't bothered much with the names but to know which color each one was so when a patron asked for something in particular, she knew which one to get.

She was here just to refill her pot with the regular stuff, and did so with a wooden ladle while holding the heavy teapot over the basin with one hand. Just as she was thanking God that she was a ninja with the strength to hold what felt like twenty pounds at arm's length all freakin' day, she remembered something, and looked to the side.

Just off to her left, there was a huge rack of scrolls. Within that rack was the ten scrolls they were looking for. There, hidden among maybe two hundred different scrolls of poetry, were ten scrolls that were powerful enough to spell Konoha's doom in the hands of a small army.

Fury finished filling the teapot and put it beside the basin, getting up and looking at the scrolls. She had no idea how to start the search for what they needed. The mission objective could have been staring her straight in the face and she would have never known it. Thinking fast, knowing if she was gone for much longer someone would come looking for her, she counted how many slots across and down the rack was.

Twenty across, thirty down.

Fury did the math in her head on the way out with the teapot. Twenty by thirty was six hundred! Admitted, not all of the slots had something in them, but checking all of them would take hours, hours they didn't have as long as they were acting like Geisha and Maiko.

But Fury still had an idea.

She did her rounds, pouring tea and sheepishly speaking when she was spoken to by one of the men. Many commented that she was pretty, and others, regulars, commented they hadn't seen her before and wanted to know how she had gotten to the Yagioke Okiya and teahouse.

When asked that question, Fury said nothing. The patron would assume there was some disaster and offer her sympathy.

Once the round was done, Fury went back to the tea room, even though her pot was not empty. Once she was in she put it down, looking to the scroll rack again.

She started checking them, one by one, counting off the slots while going across. She counted the ones that were empty too, just so she'd always know where she was like it was a grid. When she got to fifteen, not finding anything but Geisha poetry, she filled her teapot and left the room.

_15._

She snorted at herself. Not good enough. Once back out she saw no one beckoning for her, so she took a seat on the rough tama mats and put the pot in front of her. Able to rest for some time, she enjoyed it while looking for Loor, who was still sitting for the two men she'd started the night with. Whatever she was saying had them very interested, though Fury couldn't her what it was from across the room. Fury really hoped she wasn't blowing their cover by trying to explain modern economic theory to them, or something like that. Geisha didn't know of such things.

Fury got to enjoy her break for quite some time before she noticed that Himori had suddenly gotten up. The girl, in her gleaming gold kimono, was quite a vision. Fury would have thought she was pretty if she wasn't such a bitch to Daiske. She walked quickly down the row, stopping behind Loor and gently touching the girl's shoulder. Loor looked up at once, words were exchanged, and Himori nodded in Fury's general direction.

Fury stiffened. Had she done something wrong? Was Himori demanding that Loor punish her in front of all these people?

Loor glanced over to Fury before nodding back at Himori, though slowly. She got up, and shuffled down the row to Yunakomi, touching her shoulder like Himori had touched hers.

Yunakomi looked up expectantly, Loor said something, and Yunakomi looked back down again with a brisk nod, waving her off.

Loor stood up, looking a little befuddled but moving along anyway, going over to Fury and kneeling.

"Show time." Loor explained. "Put away the teapot. I gotta get the shamisen from the back room."

Fury nodded, and both of them got up and entered the back room. Fury put away the teapot, also needing to get the fans she used when dancing. Loor took up the shamisen, and then noticed the rack of scrolls.

"Oh... wow. That's..."

"Six hundred slots." Fury said glumly. "I've only checked fifteen of them."

Loor nodded. "They're going to give us time. Here, you go on top and I'll search the bottom." Loor said this while kneeling down.

"Right..." Fury said, going to the rack and starting back where she left off, constantly listening for the sound of someone coming to the back room. Loor was checking through quickly, pulling out scrolls two at a time, opening them enough to see if they had Konoha's mark on the corner of the paper, and closing them up again to put them away. Fury was more careful, mainly because she was afraid of dropping them and damaging them.

"Found one." Loor said softly after they had been searching for a few moments. She held it up to Fury, and Fury stared. It was one of the maps that Tsunade had talked about, showing all the points of entry to the wall around Konoha and depicting the security detail that went with each one. Also there was the locations of the safety bunkers in case of attack, where the non-ninja would hide while the shinobi took care of things.

Loor rolled it up again and turned to the tea basin.

"What are you doing?"

"We'll need to grab these fast when we grab them." Loor explained. "We won't have time to count slots."

"So?" Fury asked.

"So I'm going to give our scrolls a little color."

Loor dipped the end of the scroll in the tea, turning the end of it brilliant orange. She then put it back among the others in the wooden rack. If you weren't looking for it, it wasn't that noticeable. But they knew it was there, and it stood out like a flashing light.

There wasn't much more time for their search, Fury making it to slot thirty three, Loor to slot five sixty, counting backwards from six hundred. Between them Fury had found two more scrolls, both of which Loor dipped before they put them back, getting up quickly and grabbing the guitar-like instrument she had been learning. Fury nodded, picking up her fans and turning to leave.

Three of ten, and seventy three slots searched out of six hundred.

Loor was growling. Fury could keep searching the next night, and the night after that, but would short bursts of looking be enough to find them all before their time was up? They had to get out of here, knowing Orochimaru's record of showing up at random.

Loor didn't want to run into him, and Fury didn't want Loor to go insane from even seeing that man.


	31. The Question of Protection

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty One- The Question Of Protection**

Dawn was breaking in Konoha, the darkness of pre-dawn giving way to a feint pink and orange light that heralded the sun rising up over the village. In these first moments of the morning, Sakura found herself awake. Usually she slept to a slightly later hour of the morn, but today she was awake and roaming about her apartment, wondering what to do with the extra time she now had before Tsunade would be expecting her to report of the Hokage building for her daily duties.

As she passed the window, early light painting her apartment a lovely shade of orange, she was distracted from her musings by a photo. She kept it on the window sill, a picture of herself and her team when they had first become genin. Kakashi had gotten copies of the photo, so they all had it, framed to keep the memory.

Sakura kept two of these photos. One, the one at the window, was her copy of it.

The other, one she kept on her nightstand, was given to her when Sasuke left the village and his apartment was cleared out. She had a lot of his things, saving them, as if he was going to come back one day.

But Sakura knew, better than most, that he was never coming back.

Sakura walked to the window and picked up the picture, opening the window with her other hand and breathing in the morning air.

They had been so young. Her hair had still been long back then, back when she was still trying so hard to get Sasuke to like her. Back when she thought being as girly as she could would attract him.

Back before she got her reality check.

She sighed, putting the photo back and deciding she'd eat something before catching some more sleep. She turned to the fridge, near the window, and opened it to look for something.

She sighed when she found nothing appetizing, shaking her head. She closed the fridge and figured she'd just go back to bed and think about food when she got up again.

She only took one step before stopping and looking back at the photo again.

She blinked.

The photo had fallen over. It looked as if someone had knocked the frame forward, the picture lying face down on the sill. Sakura glanced around her apartment at once, tensing up. Had something come in? Had she unknowingly knocked it over when she put it down?

She walked slowly to the window, looking between her apartment and the open portal.

When she got there she stuck her head outside, looking about and seeing no one in the streets below her apartment. It was too early for people to be waking up. She sighed, calming her nerves while closing the window, putting the picture back up the way it was meant to be.

She then turned to go back to her bedroom, yawning and closing the door behind her as she flopped onto her bed, not even bothering with the covers that she had kicked to the foot of her bed when she'd woken up. With the door closed and the total lack of a window in her room, the only light came from a thin sliver under her door.

The warm orange light of the dawn flickered as Sakura looked at it.

At first she blinked, sitting up again, listening.

She had the eerie feeling that she was not alone.

"Hello?" She called, getting up and getting tense again, ready for anything. "Who's there?"

She felt a touch on her cheek, and suddenly found herself aware that someone was standing right in front of her, the light from her door blocked off and leaving the room inky black.

"I didn't have time to write."

Sakura blinked several times, though it made no difference in the dark. Strain her eyes as she might, she could see nothing of the person in front of her, caressing her face.

But his _voice._ His voice, she knew. She knew it too well, though it had changed a little bit since she'd last heard it. It was more mature, coming from someone a year and a half older than her memory of him.

But she refused to believe blindly.

She dodged out of his grasp, getting to the light switch and throwing it on to illuminate her room.

What she saw she almost couldn't believe.

He was standing there. In her room. He wore different clothes now, and stood taller, but she would still know him.

Sasuke.

She didn't bother with his name, still wary. She looked at him strangely, and he could feel her chakra flowing about him to see if he was wearing a genjutsu as a disguise, or using transformation to look the way he did. He didn't protest it, actually smirking slightly at how cautious she'd become.

She was a shinobi indeed.

Finally, she approached him. Her gaze still questioned, but he'd passed her first test.

"Tell me something only we'd know." She said, walking around him to see him from all sides.

"There is nothing only we'd know." He answered. "We both live in a world full of shinobi, where everyone's secrets can be found by the right people."

"Then how do I know it's you?" She questioned, no emotion showing.

She had come to stand in front of him, looking up. He expected to see a look on her face that said how much she missed him, but instead her face was hardened.

She wasn't showing anything.

"Are you sure you are yourself?" He asked, something of a teasing tone in his voice. "The Sakura I knew two years ago would be sobbing at this point, squeezing the life out of me."

"I've grown up... and the Sakura you knew a year and a half ago got over that. Are you saying you'd rather me naïve and emotional?"

"I never said that." He said, smirking slightly. "A hug would be nice, though I can do without the tears."

She stared at him for a moment more, not sure of what to do. He seemed real enough, but she feared making a mistake.

If she gave in and he was an impostor, she'd likely be killed in a moment of weakness. Someone in the Sound Village could have found out about their letters, and come to get rid of her to more fully bind Sasuke to Orochimaru.

"How can I know?" She questioned again, staring at him.

"Trust me."

Famous last words.

But still, Sakura rushed him in a sudden embrace, holding him close and finding her head resting right under his chin. He hesitated before wrapping his arms around her, holding her.

This was a moment Sakura was sure would never happen. Sasuke had explained time and again in his letters that he would not leave the Sound village to come to her, and he forbade her coming to him. Over and over and over again, Sasuke had made it all too clear that they would never hold each other, despite how much they'd grown to like each other once Sakura dropped the act and started being herself.

And yet, here he was. And here she was, in his arms.

"How long?" Sakura questioned against his neck, nuzzling up to him.

"Maybe an hour... I have to be back in Otogure by nightfall."

"Why are you here?" She asked, breaking away and sitting back on her bed again, staring at him, still shocked.

He shook his head, frowning. "Sakura... you know I can't--"

"I know." She nodded, sighing. "We're technically enemy shinobi. I know."

"I can't have you trying to stop me."

"Your life hangs on every mission you do. You've told me all about it, that people die for failure. Why would I try to stop you? Unless you're leading an invasion."

He shook his head slightly. The look on his face left no hints to his reason for being there. Instead he came to sit with her on her bed.

"Someday... all of this will be over." He said quietly.

"I know." She nodded, reaching over and gently taking his hand. "And I'll be there when it is."

He glanced at her, flashing a tiny smile before looking down again. "I can never return to Konoha, Sakura. Where would we go?"

"I'd make them take you back." Sakura said fiercely. "I don't like the methods they use... but if you prove that you meant the village no harm when you left, they'll let you back in."

"You'd see me tortured at Ibiki's hands just so I could return?"

It was Sakura's turn to smirk. "Ibiki-sensei takes volunteers, you know."

He blinked. "They'd never let you. You're emotionally compromised in the wrong direction. If you hated me, maybe, but otherwise they'd never let you in."

"Really?" She asked, getting up and getting in his face. "Don't you remember? I'm the girl you beat up to get out of the village, and you left me on a park bench without so much as a kiss goodbye! Plus, I've had more than a year to stew about it. Tsunade never says your name around me, because I make sure to explode every time someone does. The whole village thinks I want to kill you for leaving... Ibiki offered to take me and an apprentice earlier this year."

He stared at her before smiling. "You've been planning this since I left, haven't you?"

"You said you'd never come back..." She stood straight, looking down at him. "I figured... if you changed your mind, I'd keep a door open for you."

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "I haven't seen any sign of him, and you never mention him when you write."

Sakura blushed slightly. "Ah... about that." She lowered her head. "I should have told you. Naruto is gone. His sensei took him away from the village for training, mainly to keep him from running after you the second his wounds healed."

Sasuke took a chance. "And Fury? And Loor?"

"They're on a mission right now." Sakura shrugged. "Loor wouldn't tell me about it before they left... she was real touchy."

Sasuke wanted to curse. He was hoping they would be back in the village by now. Still, he didn't ask any more questions, reaching up and taking Sakura's hands. She looked down at him and smiled softly, coming to sit on his lap and facing him on the edge of her bed.

"So..." She giggled. "About that goodbye kiss I never got from you..."

He chuckled, holding her around the middle. "Are you that mad about it?"

"No." She smirked. "But you've been building up interest for the last year and a half, buddy. You owe me big time."

He nodded, gently meeting her lips.

Their first kiss.

Sakura had been dreaming of her first kiss since she was a little girl, since she had first met Sasuke. She had always seen it as a little girl was supposed to see it, a romantic peck while holding hands. Her childhood dreams would never have seen her sitting on a man's lap, going from sucking his lower lip to feeling his tongue slipping between her lips.

She pulled back from him with a smile. He was smiling too, pulling her closer to him.

"Well then..." He said softly. "We have about an hour to fix that."

* * *

Loor and Fury returned to the Okiya from the teahouse at a late hour, along with Himori, Daiske, and Yunakomi. It had been a long night, but ultimately successful according to their agenda. They had blended in quite well, Fury's dancing and Loor's shamisen playing having been accepted like any other Geisha performance, and they had located three of the ten scrolls they needed to find. Fury had continued the search after the show, but after conquering another fifty some slots, she had not found another scroll.

They were exhausted at the end of it, though it was mainly nerves. They had exasperated themselves mentally from constantly worrying about exposure and capture. Their every move had to be well thought out and planned, because one slip could mean the end of the mission, and quite possibly their lives.

Upon returning to the Okiya, Fury was asleep. She had hardly gotten out of her kimono and returned it and the jewelery that had come with it before she passed out. She had nearly fallen asleep in the basin of water as she had been washing off her face. Loor was only in slightly better condition because stress tended to wind her up while tiring her out.

Once they were undressed and clean, they went back to their room, getting neck braces instead of pillows because their hair was still done up. Both girls had learned to sleep with one, and though it kept one's neck in comfortable position, it drove Loor crazy to sleep on her back. The reason for this fell between her breasts being heavy and making it hard to breathe and her back hurting like hell the next morning.

Uncomfortable and wound up, Loor didn't find sleep nearly as easily as her sister. Instead she lay awake, shifting about in her bedroll and under an extra blanket, trying to find a position that kept her neck on the brace and made her spine happy. It was impossible. No matter which way she turned her hips, which was all she could really do without messing with how her head laid, it still hurt. Eventually she sat up, twisting to crack her back in hopes of getting rid of the irritation.

To her dismay, her back was too stiff from wearing the obi and the stress of the day to crack and release pressure. This left her sitting up and awake, wanting desperately to scratch her head on top of everything else. The new hair growth under the wig they had waxed on was starting to itch terribly, but she knew that if even one hair was displaced in the style the wig had been pulled into she'd blow her cover just as easily as if she'd said screw the neck brace and got a pillow.

She didn't bother laying down again, just sitting up in her bedding and leaning forward in hopes of stretching out the stiff muscles in her back, thinking about the mission.

They'd made good progress, but she worried. Half of her was thinking that they wouldn't be able to find all of the scrolls before Orochimaru showed up on the scene. That was their true deadline. They could stay as long as a week, plenty of time to find all of them, but Saikomi had warned them that Orochimaru had a habit of coming to the teahouse unannounced. They had to move as fast as possible to avoid capture.

The other half worried about something else...

"It's too easy."

Loor glanced up as her own thoughts were voiced by another.

Lyra was stretched out on her back, one leg bent and the other crossed over the knee, her clawed foot bobbing in the air as her tail laid flat on the floor, the tip twitching up into a curl now and then. One arm was folded under her head so she could face Loor, the other hand busy picking her teeth with a single needle-like claw.

Loor blinked at the beast that hadn't been there two seconds before. She blinked not because of Lyra's sudden appearance; she was getting used to that. No, she stared because there was something she hadn't noticed when she'd spoken to Lyra last.

Lyra looked bigger.

Lyra had grown in size during her entire transformation from a figment of Loor's imagination to a demonic entity, and Loor had noticed it once before when the beast had been a foot taller than her instead of being the same size as her, but now Loor had to blink. Lyra was twice the size of a man, though still perfectly proportioned to maintain her lustfully appealing appearance. Loor hadn't noticed this dramatic change the night before because Lyra had been walking outside of the cart.

She looked more powerful, but there wasn't another full moon for more than a week, and the last one was more than a week behind. But through her robe her muscles were lean and corded, making her resemble a predator cat somewhat in her slinky yet dangerous form.

Once Loor got over the shock, she slowly nodded. "Right... all of what we've done seems to be going too smoothly." She said, not asking the question that surfaced on her brain.

Lyra giggled at Loor while shaking her head. "You might as well say it. I already know what you want to say."

"What..." Loor swallowed. "What happened to you? What did I miss?"

Lyra yawned as if bored, raising her hands up beyond her head and arching her back to stretch. "Mmm... that is a wonderful question... but my guess is you already know the answer." She turned her golden eyes upon her host. "Don't you?"

There was an unspoken understanding. With one look, Loor was able to sense the new power that was in Lyra's form.

Power that reeked of Shukaku's blood lust and intentions.

"When...?" Loor stopped and bit her lip, already knowing the answer to that too. After she'd accepted Gaara back... when he was nervous around her, fearing for her life. He must have allowed Shukaku to do it while she was sleeping.

Gaara had allowed Shukaku to give more power to Lyra, hopefully empowering Lyra to protect her.

Lyra rolled over, getting up to all fours and slinking over to Loor. Even down on four legs, Lyra had to bend her head low to get in Loor's face, smirking. "Your boy cares very much about your safety, Loor. Gaara fought Shukaku over it, didn't want to do it, but he had no other choice to guarantee your safety. He knows, I don't worry about your silly values... I care about yours and my survival. But his main fear was for naught." Lyra lifted her head again, sitting back on her haunches. "I am very little like Shukaku in the terms of blood lust. His extra power brought unwanted urges, but as I am already established I can control myself."

Loor stared up at Lyra, blinking and somewhat confused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

"So... was it enough?" Loor finally questioned. "Can you protect me?"

"No idea." The creature yawned again, growing bored once more and laying at her host's side. "We won't know till someone tries to attack you."

"Well that's a comforting thought..." Loor grumbled, laying back and sighing.

"Just don't do anything stupid and we won't have to find out on _this_ mission." Lyra suggested in her soothing yet evil voice. Loor noticed that the things that had been annoying her had gone out of notice, and was sure Lyra had something to do with it.

"When..." Loor yawned, her eyes tearing from sudden sleepiness. "When do I do stupid things?"

Lyra giggled, and Loor could feel the beast moving to look down at her.

"Do you need to ask?" Lyra questioned.

Loor blinked a few times through bleary eyes, and then fell asleep.


	32. Himori

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Two- Himori**

Loor woke up to being gently prodded. It was a light touch at her shoulder, and at first she had a fleeting memory from years ago when she had a cat and the way he would butt her shoulder in the morning when he was hungry. Still, when her eyes came open she was reminded that where she was now was a far cry from where she was five years ago.

Sitting up she found herself in her room in the Okiya, Daiske next to her, having been nudging her awake. A glance to the right showed that Fury was still fast asleep, and a look to Daiske, who was still rubbing sleep out of her eyes, told her that it was still too early for anyone else in the Okiya to be awake.

"Yes?" Loor finally asked.

"Yunakomi would like to speak with you." Daiske said, her voice hardly a stage whisper. She must have feared waking Fury up or something.

Loor heard Yunakomi's voice like a middle school kid heard the principal asking them out of class. A shot of hot adrenaline ran through her, but she kept it to herself and nodded at the Maiko. "Thank you. Should I dress or see her as I am?"

"She will not mind. She is yet to dress for the day yet either."

Loor nodded, getting out of her bed roll as Daiske scampered out of the room. Loor had no idea where she was going, but she had to assume that the lowest ranking girl living at an Okiya did all the grunt work, like the little girls that lived with Saikomi. Loor wouldn't be surprised with the girl was charged with basic cleaning jobs and cooking meals.

Getting out of her room and into the hallway, Loor looked one way and then the other before proceeding down the hall towards Yunakomi's quarters at the end of the hall. Her bedroom door was a traditional sliding paper door like the rest of them, and had a red dragon painted upon the faintly yellow paper for decoration. Loor tried not to hesitate, actually walking quickly to get to the end of the hall.

In her mind, she wondered what Yunakomi wanted. Had she and Fury done something wrong the night before? Had someone guessed their identities? Was Yunakomi waiting with a group of Orochimaru's people, ready to arrest her?

Loor tried to stop worrying, because she was about to find out.

She opened the door to find Yunakomi's room was a thing of beauty. If the decorative red dragon hadn't been a hint, the woman had made a few bucks in her life as a Geisha. The room was centered on the woman's bedroll, with scrolls on the walls and statues next to windows, as well as potted plants that flowered wonderfully in the early morning light. It was like a queen's treasure trove.

And in the middle of this beauty was the queen.

Yunakomi wore a simple under kimono like everyone else did for sleeping, a thin and loose garment that betrayed the woman's age much more than her face did. Despite her age, her face was still rather smooth. How she achieved so few wrinkles Loor would never know, because she would never ask.

Loor knelt at once, as Geisha were supposed to when confronted by an Okiya mother in private.

"Yes, _Okaa-san?"_

Yunakomi smirked at how proper her guest was being. At once she motioned for the girl to raise her head and come to her feet, which Loor did.

"Ryuuyume," Yunakomi addressed. "Is anything missing from your room?"

"Hm?" This caught Loor off guard. She had expected she was in trouble, and now it looked like Yunakomi was more worried about Loor being angry.

"Himori changed with you and your room last night." Yunakomi clarified. "The girl... I hate to admit this but she had a bad habit of stealing. What she does with what she takes I have no business in, but if she takes from a guest... I would have to get involved. She spent quite a long time in there, and I was worried she was snooping about you and your _Imoto-chan's _things, looking for valuables."

Loor blinked. "You _know_ she's stealing?"

"I do." Yunakomi nodded. "And that she ropes little Daiske into it as well."

"Then why do you only punish Daiske?" Loor questioned. "She said she always has to take the fall for Himori."

The old woman sighed, looking pained. "I only recently started punishing these acts... I was hoping that Himori would care more about a young Maiko than herself. By punishing Daiske Himori doesn't know that I know about what she's doing, but I had been hoping that she would stop to save Daiske from pain."

"Not happening." Loor growled. "Himori doesn't care."

"So noted." Yunakomi nodded. "I have already been constructing another plan to stop the disappearance of my stores... but enough on that. Is anything missing?"

"Oh.. no. Me and... my _Imoto-chan,_ we came with very little. The most valuable things we came with were the clothes on our backs."

"I'd keep an eye on such things." Yunakomi gave, sighing.

"Right... anything else?"

"Yes, actually. It is about last night."

Loor stiffened. Maybe she was in trouble.

"Yes?"

"Tell your _Imoto-chan..._ you needn't fill the teapot after every cup you pour. It looked quite silly last night when she kept running to the back room to get more when it wasn't even half empty."

Loor bit the inside of her cheek to keep from cursing, nodding slightly. "Yes, _Okaa-san._ I will tell her."

"Good. That is all."

Loor turned quickly, wanting to break out cussing about more than one thing. She left quickly to return to her room, thinking about things that needed to be done. Fury wouldn't be able to keep going to the back room as often, so she'd have to go through the scrolls faster if she still wanted to cover as much ground. The other thing was Himori. Loor had noticed the girl had a wandering eye, but if she went through her and Fury's things she might've found their headbands!

They'd need to hide them better than in the bottom of their bedrolls as soon as possible.

Loor was nearly to her door when she heard another door open. She made a point of not looking, turning quickly to her and Fury's room and reaching for the sliding portal.

"Ryuuyume?"

Loor bit her lip, hard. Too late. Turning, putting on a smile for the sake of the act, she waved her good morning to Himori.

"Hello." She said, trying to sound sleepy and worthy of going back to bed without delay.

Himori, just out of her own room, smiled back at Loor and waved a different wave, a beckoning motion. "Ryuuyume, would you join me for a moment?"

Loor blinked, but found she had no excuse not to. So, letting her hand slide off of her own door, she walked to Himori.

She felt like she was entering a dragon's lair.

Himori left Loor to close the door, sliding down to her bedroll in a lazy manner and giving Loor an inviting smile. Loor assumed that she was to sit, to but at Himori's level, and did so the way she'd been taught.

At once, Himori laughed at her.

"So proper!" Himori teased. "Someone would think you're trying a little too hard."

"Is there a reason you wanted to see me?"

"Are young Geisha not allowed to chat during their free time?" Himori asked innocently. "I simply wanted to bid you a good morning. Your _Imoto-chan_ gave a very nice dance last night. She's far more skillful in the fans than Daiske. The girl is so clumsy, I fear she'll never be an actual Geisha."

"Perhaps if you weren't so mean to her." Loor said monotonously.

"How else am I to train her hands?" Himori questioned. "Like I care. I didn't even choose her. Yunakomi said I'd train her since we both ended up here."

"How?" Loor questioned.

"Daiske landed here when the other Okiya in the village was destroyed in a raid. I ended up here when I came visiting from the Land of Waves. The place was more poverty stricken than these parts, so I figured I'd stay. I hear things are picking up since they finally built a bridge to the mainland, but I don't see the point in going back."

"You don't know how to leave." Loor summed up. "Or you don't have the money."

Himori shrugged slightly. "Money is a factor... but as you can see from Yunakomi, some wealth can be built up over time."

"You don't seem very patient to me."

"Sometimes you have to be."

"Then why do you steal and let Daiske take the beatings?"

Himori blinked, and then smirked, holding her hands up. "You caught me. I'm trying to get out of here. But can you blame me? If you knew this village like I do, you'd wouldn't have come to visit here."

"Are you taking her with you when you go?" Loor questioned.

"She is my _Imoto-chan."_

"Yeah, the one you kick around for fun." Loor glared. "Answer the question."

Himori's pretty face blanked for a moment, and she then returned Loor's aggression. "What do you care if I leave her in this hell hole?"

"Yunakomi won't take her as an apprentice. She'll be alone."

"So? Sometimes being alone is best. No one can mess you up."

"Oh, right, but you have no problem using her."

"She lets herself be used." Himori spat. "It's more her fault than mine."

Loor snorted, standing up and shaking her head. "For a Geisha... you are very ugly on the inside. Perhaps Daiske should be teaching you."

"What would she teach me? How to be a pushover?"

"She'll turn out a stronger person than you; taking a coward's path, hiding behind others, unwilling to wait to get things done properly... and for what? For fear?" Loor actually smiled down at Himori. "You're a disgusting little worm."

Himori choked slightly, and Loor turned to leave, heading back to her own room and to Fury.

* * *

After a meal at the Okiya the day passed lazily for Loor and Fury until it was time to get ready for another night at the teahouse. It went much like the night before, where Himori volunteered to do Fury's make-up and Loor was left to handle Daiske. This time, though, Daiske and Himori didn't have to wait for Loor and Fury to get their hair done, so all four of them were in the room with the washbasins and mirrors together.

The Maiko were silent as the Geisha did their make-up for them, but Himori attempted to open casual conversation.

"So how do you like the teahouse?" She asked while painting Fury's face white.

Loor didn't answer at first, carefully painting the back of Daiske's neck to get the hard part out of the way first. She was obviously concentrating, biting her lip in the effort not to screw up. Himori was about to ask again, not even looking at Loor, when she finally spoke.

"It's rather beautiful... for a glorified theater."

"A glorified theater?" Himori asked, some offense showing. "Theaters entertain families with young children who enjoy farce. A teahouse is a proper place of business and art."

Loor smirked. She was trying to piss Himori off. She actually thought rather highly of the teahouse. The architecture was beautiful; the traditional red painted wood with the yellow tama mats, lanterns, and paper doors made the place feel like a palace. But praising the Okiya wouldn't get a rise out of Himori.

But Loor knew what would.

"Don't fool yourself." Loor responded haughtily. "The place is a step away from a gentleman's club."

"A gentleman's club?"

Loor snorted. "A whore house for business men. You don't let them touch you, but we wear this mask of paint to become their fantasy. We wear high society clothing so they can put our beauty in place of their old and wrinkled wives. We preform as artists, but we cater to their lustful minds in every way but deed."

Loor could see that even Fury was irked by this speech, one of the first people to scream corrections if someone said a Geisha was a whore. It was a common misconception, as whores would dress as Geisha to get more takers, but it was one Fury would never tolerate.

Of course, Fury knew that Loor knew better, so she was able to restrain herself.

Himori, on the other hand, was irate.

"Are you daft!?" She seethed, staring at Loor with wide eyes. "We do not do such a thing! We engage in conversation, we entertain, and we serve. We are not their late night toys!"

"Then what of the _mizuwage_ tradition?" Loor questioned pointedly. "I'm sure you get a full house once people know there's a chance that sex might be on the market."

Himori's eyes looked like they were going to fall free from her skull, her lids were drawn so wide. She raged so that she was too angry to speak, and once she had formed words she realized that the only way to shut Loor up was to be quiet.

So she turned back to painting Fury the white of the Geisha, painting her lips and lids red and lining her eyes black, and then taking Fury back to her own quarters to dress her, as Loor did the Daiske.

Loor took her time though, rather smug. After Himori left the room with Fury, Daiske spoke.

"Why did you say those things? They are not true."

"I know." Loor giggled.

"Then why say them?"

"It got rid of her, didn't it?"

"But--" Daiske paused. "That was so... practiced. You knew exactly how to make her mad."

"Your point being?" Loor questioned sarcastically. "I just didn't wanna deal with her."

Daiske was going to say something else, but Loor turned her around to start working on her face and the girl didn't dare open her mouth for fear of getting it full of white paint.

Soon Loor took Daiske to dress her in the guest quarters and then returned to the wash room to do her own make-up just as Himori was leaving, her face painted.

The two stopped, and Himori glared daggers at the guest she was supposed to treat with respect.

"Yes?" She asked, overly sweet.

"The only reason you say Geisha are whores..." Himori managed to say. "Is because you are one!"

The guest raised her eyebrow at Himori. "It took you all this time to come up with _that?_"

Himori resisted the urge to smack the guest, moving through the door quickly with a huff. She aimed to get to her room again and get dressed so she could get to the teahouse quickly and avoid the guest Geisha, but as she walked down the hall she noticed something.

The guest Maiko was already waiting out in the garden with Yunakomi. The Geisha was washing and painting her face.

Their room was empty.

Himori didn't think twice about her chance, diving into the room before she could talk herself out of it. She knew to go right to the bedrolls, ripping away the top cover and getting to her knees, trusting her eager hand to the bottom of the sleeping bag.

Her hand found nothing.

She blinked, and then checked the other bedroll. The same was true; empty.

She stood up with anger in her breast. She had felt it under her foot the night before. Something in the Maiko's bedroll, something at the foot of the bedroll... but these were empty. Sighing she put them back the way she found them, as not to arouse suspicion, and at once started searching the rest of the room.

Again.

She moved fast, hardly casting a glance over their kimono folded up in the corner. That was too obvious. The object she felt was small, so she looked under the neck braces that they had slept on, but there was nothing there. Growing frantic she dove over to the storage compartment and shoved her head inside.

Her body blocked most of the light from the room, hardly able to see into the compartment. Instead she backed off and reached in with a hand, sliding it across the bottom of the compartment carefully.

When she got to the back corner, she felt something smooth and cold.

Metal.

At once she seized it, pulling hard. At first it came but then it stopped, as if it were tied to something within the compartment. Growling, she pulled harder, but it wouldn't come free.

She didn't have much time left, but her prize was in her hand! Thinking about what would happen if she left without it, another day in this hellhole called Otogure, the possibility that she, like anyone else, could be killed off any day, gave her the strength to rip the object free of the compartment.

And rip was the right word.

When Himori's hand came free, an object she hadn't quite been expecting came with it.

It was a shinobi headband.

More than that, it was a Leaf headband.

The Maiko was a shinobi from Konoha!

The metal plate was mounted on dark blue cloth, and Himori inspected it to find one end of the band ripped. She must have somehow attached it to the inside of the compartment to deter theft.

Himori knew something else though. If one was a shinobi, the other had to be. They had to be on a mission together, probably trying to learn something about Otogure to lead an invasion.

Himori didn't take any more time to think about it, shutting the compartment and running to her own room to get dressed.

She'd take this evidence to the leader of the village in the middle of the night, reap her reward, and get the first carriage out of there.

* * *

And this, my friends, is where I leave you.

I know, I'm so mean. XP Don't worry the next chapter is already half written.

**Loor owns nothing. Though honestly I would have watched Naruto more if it moved as fast as this story did. . Ah well.**

See you next time punks.

-Loor


	33. Greed

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Three- Greed**

"Lord Orochimaru!"

It was late in the evening when Kabuto entered his master's chambers, shouting for his attention. He and Sasuke had returned from Konoha ahead of schedule, having made haste when they found exactly the information they had been looking for.

His master looked up, something of satisfaction showing on his white face. "Kabuto. You are not due for hours."

The silver haired shinobi was panting, having run into the room and only skidded to a stop just feet before his lord, bowing his head low and nodding in the same motion. "Yes, the mission was successful."

"And?" Orochimaru asked expectantly.

"They're here!" Kabuto seemed either giddy or hysterical. "Right under our noses! Konoha found out about the scrolls we stole, the girls were assigned to bring them back or destroy them." Kabuto reached into a pocket, quickly presenting a scroll with his head bowed. "The time line described in the mission pins them here, in the Yagioke Okiya, where we have the scrolls hidden."

Orochimaru didn't even answer, snatching up the scroll, sliding it open and reading quickly. Some shock could be read upon his face. He would have never expected the girls to be so close! In his village, playing dress up as Geisha no less! A quick read told him what Kabuto had already said. The time line had the girls here for a few more days, working in the Okiya long enough to find their targets and dispose of them.

There was silence as Orochimaru read, and then he smirked.

"Kabuto... I do believe it's high time we pay the local teahouse a visit."

"Tonight?"

"No, they'll be near closed..." Orochimaru shook his head. "Most of the patrons gone. If what this scroll says is correct, our girls will be in town for a little while. We'll see them tomorrow evening. Round up some able bodied men. Knowing Loor, she'll put up a fight even if she is wearing a kimono."

Kabuto nodded, bowing properly. "Yes Lord Orochimaru." He said, then getting up to leave. He had hardly turned before his master spoke again.

"Oh, and Kabuto..."

He glanced back, waiting for orders.

"Make sure Rishu knows, so he won't be surprised when his new prisoners arrive."

Kabuto blinked, not sure just what that meant coming out of Orochimaru's mouth. Still, he nodded and left quickly, trying not to think about what it would mean if Orochimaru had some kind of surveillance in the prison block, or other means of listening.

He had orders. He had no place to think at the moment. Thinking was something he did on his own time.

For now, he was to be the barer of bad news to Rishu.

Kabuto made no haste as he traveled the underground halls that made up most of Orochimaru's base of operations. He was in no rush to tell Rishu exactly what he didn't want to hear. Instead he meandered, taking the long way, but he still ended up at his destination.

He entered the prison block quietly, descending the stairs to the main prison floor and finding Rishu laying out on his mat, staring up at the ceiling. Because there was so little light in the room it looked like there was no ceiling, just blackness, and it seemed to have Rishu entranced in its endlessness.

"Have you ever thought of a way out?" Rishu asked absently, showing that he still knew Kabuto was there, despite appearing totally unaware. "Ever thought of a way out of the dark?"

"A million ways." Kabuto answered. "But that's because there's a million ways to kill yourself."

"Sometimes I pretend I'm not in a building." Rishu muttered. "Sometimes I pretend I'm looking up at a cloudy night sky, with no moon and no stars..."

"It's a poor fantasy." Kabuto snorted at him. "Stop dreaming and realize reality."

"I do." Rishu gave, his voice a sigh. "But my reality does not suit me." He then turned to his side, looking at Kabuto, his yellow eyes becoming serious. "What news do you bring? Sasuke told me about your mission."

Kabuto winced, but found no choice but to put it bluntly. "They will be captured by tomorrow evening."

Rishu was suddenly upright, on his feet, blinking and his mouth slightly open. "What... what?! But how...?"

"Their mission has them in our territory." Kabuto said lightly. "Orochimaru plans to apprehend them. You will see them by tomorrow evening or the morning after that, depending on what kind of... welcome the master wants to present them with."

Rishu blinked a few times, then turned away, cursing. "How could you help him do this?" Rishu asked quietly. "Didn't you have feelings for one of them?"

"My feelings do not matter." Kabuto returned. "Dreams are for children. Having them, losing them, makes the weak crack and break. Dreams are impossible, flights of fancy that are not worth a mind's time... and so if I may have thought of Fury as a friend, it does not matter. My loyalty is to the one who insures my life. Nothing else matters."

"So you're a coward." Rishu spat. "Manipulative, but essentially just like the rest of the spineless slime that lives in this place."

"I care about survival." Kabuto said simply. "And where would I be if I were to follow your path? Trapped in the dungeon?"

"I'm proud to be here!" Rishu snapped. "I am surrounded by those of my like! Look at these cells, Kabuto! You know who are in them? People who refused! People with minds of their own, willing to die for that fact! Orochimaru knows his little army will never obey them if they can think for themselves, so he throws us down here! He tries to break us, and if he can't, he kills us!" Rishu panted, his tirade bellowed at the top of his lungs to this point. But now he sank low, to an intense voice that needed no more volume. "He is afraid of us, Kabuto. He fears what we might do to the mindless drones he employs. We have resolve and courage, spirit, and we refuse to give it up just to survive. And if we are dreamers..."

Kabuto blinked as Rishu smiled.

"Then we will all die by our dreams till one is realized."

"You are a fool..." Kabuto muttered, slightly shocked.

"Perhaps..." Rishu sat back down, shaking his head. "But I'd rather be a dead fool than a live coward."

* * *

Loor and Fury were exhausted at the end of their second night working the teahouse. They had performed again, and all had gone well, but Loor felt like she was going to die if she wore a kimono for another night in a row.

But both girls returned to the Okiya and their sleeping quarters with a victorious smile.

The search had gone well that night. It took the entire night, Fury nearly getting caught a few times by Daiske, but in the end there was success.

She had located and marked all ten scrolls that they needed to find. She had also devised a way to destroy them quietly, which she started explaining to Loor as they shut themselves away in their room, clean and ready for bed.

"The tea is kept warm by hot water around the basins, right?" Fury asked as she sat down on her bedroll, slightly giddy from her success. "The water is heated from below by a stove that's fed from the outside of the teahouse."

"Yeah, but there's no windows in the back room. How are we gonna get the scrolls outside to destroy them?"

"We're not." Fury answered with a grin. "There's also a small bathroom back there, and guess what's keeping that room warm? The smoke vent! It's a pipe in the corner with a little section you can open with a leaver, controlling a flue like you find in fireplaces for houses. It'll let in a little smoke, but the pipe is big enough that we could dump the scrolls into it, they fall into the fire, and burn up before anyone knows anything."

Loor blinked a few times before smiling at her sister. "Then we get the hell out of here before anyone is the wiser. I love it. If we really beat feet we can be in Konoha in under a day, if you don't mind skipping a meal or two."

"Are you kidding?" Fury laughed. "I can eat when we get home. The sooner we're outta here, the sooner I get to see Kiba. Anyway, Choji's family was already planning on having a going-away party for you."

Loor blinked. "You told him?"

Fury rolled her eyes. "I told Ino. And she told most of the village, Choji being one of the first."

"Ah." Loor giggled. "Well then, we're better off skipping meals. Choji's become quite a cook."

Their smiles slowly died with the conversation, the two looking at each other seriously again.

"But... you will be leaving." Fury said with a sigh. "I'll miss you."

"I know. I'll miss you too." Loor nodded, shrugging her shoulders. "It's not like it's goodbye or nothing. I'll still visit now and then."

"Good, cause if you're expecting me to come to Suna you got another thing coming."

"Awe, you don't like sand?" Loor teased.

"I like it when there's a beach next to it, not when it's an endless desert. The thought of quicksand and snakes and storms..." Fury shook her head. "Count me out."

Loor giggled, smirking. "Fine, fine. I'm good with harsh conditions. Almost sounds like fun."

"Yeah, but what will you do when you find yourself wanting the woods?"

"I'll come visit, obviously."

* * *

Himori had been sitting awake for an hour after returning from the teahouse. Tucked in her bedroll was her prize, and she was sitting right on top of it out of paranoia. She had pretended to sleep while Daiske was still falling asleep, but now the Maiko was snoozing quietly and Himori was waiting.

She decided that she'd wait as long as she could stand it, wait for the Okiya to sleep, and sneak out quickly and quietly. In the time that she'd been waiting she'd dressed in the best kimono she had at her disposal, taking all the things of worth she could find, packing jewelry by lacing it into her hair, collecting all of her money that she'd saved from from various sales she'd made off of things Daiske had stolen.

Then, when she found it time to leave, she stood up and drew out her salvation.

The shinobi headband. It shined in her hand, and she quickly tucked it into her obi before turning to leave. She stepped out of her room, softly shutting the door, and then shuffling down the hall to the exit. She made it out into the garden, getting her shoes on and slipping out the front gate of the Okiya.

She glanced at the name plate and snorted at it. She was free, and she would never return.

Now on the street, she moved quickly. She had to, because if she didn't someone might assume she was Oiran, not Geisha, and try to take advantage of her. She kept her gaze down, her face serious, as she traveled many little lanes.

Very few knew where the leader or Otogure resided, but for that it was hidden slightly outside of the village. But, if one had business with the Otokage, one knew where to go.

And Himori did know. It was a building that stood on the outskirts, with usually three shinobi officials minding it from day to day. Supposedly they were there to take the people's complaints and suggestions, but more often than not it was the place someone reported when they were to be executed. It was where the walk of shame would start, where the convicted would be paraded through the village and made example of.

Himori entered the building with no hesitation.

As she expected, there were three shinobi in the building, seated about a low table and playing with a deck of cards. Upon her entrance, they all looked up and blinked at her.

She jumped in with both feet.

"I need to see Orochimaru-sama."

The three shinobi, men, all stood up and stared at her for a moment more before one moved forward.

"Name?" He grunted.

"Himori Sastcho."

"You're far from you're district, Geisha." One of the others commented. "You're lucky you didn't get robbed with all those pretties in your hair."

"I have something important for Orochimaru-sama." Himori said, showing no fear. "I have evidence of invaders in the village."

The first man blinked at her, and then narrowed his eyes at her. "Really?" He asked. "Geisha have always been shady characters... what if you're an invader, trying to get in?"

The third man, who was yet to speak, shook his head. "No, she's not. She's been in the village too long. Yagioke Okiya, right? I've been there a few times."

Himori nodded. "We currently have two guests, a Geisha and Maiko, and I found this in their room."

With that, Himori reached into her obi and pulled out the headband, holding it with the symbol up. The three men stared at it for a few moments before nodding. One moved to the back of the little building, opening a back door.

"Come with us."

Himori followed without question as all three men went out the door, through it and back into the night.

The shinobi led her on a long, and ultimately confusing, trek through the rough land that went around some of the Sound village. She kept close to her guides, fearing that she might trip over a tree root in the dark as they passed the occasional stand. It felt like a long walk to her, but she was sure that the shinobi in front of her were annoyed that they had to walk so a normal person could keep up with them.

It felt like they'd been going for half an hour when they were suddenly stopped.

There had been another team of shinobi hiding in the dark. Himori could hardly see them, but they had jumped out of nowhere to confront the group she was traveling with. They spoke, whispering, for a few moments before one of the people in the new group motioned Himori forward.

Himori stepped, slightly nervously, to the head of the group.

"Show us."

She once again held out the headband. At once the person snatched it up, looking at it closely, squinting, and then sniffing the cloth is was mounted on.

"Legitimate." The shinobi commented while handing it back. "Reeks of trees and dogs." He then turned to the group that had brought Himori this far. "We'll take her from here."

"Yessir." The first group answered, and they suddenly vanished into the night in the same manner that the new group had appeared.

The new group said nothing to Himori, simply starting to walk. She followed, frowning slightly. Her feet her starting to hurt from the traditional shoes she wore. Still, she toughed it out.

She was going to present her evidence to someone within Orochimaru's inner sanctum. That was not only an honor, it also guaranteed her a reward.

The walk took another half hour, but Himori found herself growing excited enough to ignore her aching feet. She followed the group of ninja in front of her without question, even when they came upon a staircase in the middle of the wilderness that they had been walking through.

This staircase was stone, and wide. It led down into the earth, and Himori followed as her guides led her down. At the base, in nearly pure darkness, she felt a hand around her wrist. She didn't protest as she was pulled to the side, a door opening and letting out weak light that came from candles. Ahead was a hallway, and Himori was gently pushed towards it by the same person that was holding her wrist. She allowed herself to be pushed, turning back when the door shut and her wrist was released.

Her group of three guides had dissipated to just one; a young man with silver hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He wore a Sound headband on his head, and he bowed slightly to Himori before leading the way down the dimly lit hallway.

Himori followed while steadily growing more nervous. The hallways she was led through started out simple, candles set into walls that provided just enough light, the occasional vent in the ceiling to keep air moving. The dim light and how silent her guide was did a fair bit to make her nervous, but the décor of the halls began to change as he led her further.

It began with the ceiling. Himori noticed it was decorated at some point, serpentine lines weaving in and out of each other. She couldn't see a true color because of the weak candle light, which made it all the more strange. As they turned into another hall this decoration followed and another was added. The hall they entered was wider, and instead of the candles being set into the walls they were in stands sculpted out from the walls.

The stands, no two of them exactly alike, were all various statues of snakes, their mouths open, fangs displayed, forked tongues out, and the candles held in their mouths or on the tips of their tongues. Some were taller than others, some thicker, all in different coils and positions, all lifelike in quality, the flickering candlelight making them seem to move.

Himori walked closer to her guide, whimpering slightly. She wondered if whatever reward she might get was worth what she was going through. Much more of this, and she would rather walk to her freedom than pay a carriage.

Eventually they came to the end of the corridor, and her guide opened a traditional sliding door with the ornate painting of great serpents upon it in purple ink. He slid it aside for her, waiting for her to go ahead of him.

She looked at him for a moment before swallowing and going inside, her heart thudding in her chest.

At once, she knew this was her destination. She stood with her eyes wide as she realized just where she was standing, looking at the room that was in front of her.

It was a person's sleeping quarters, identified by a luxurious bed, slightly brighter light provided by torches instead of candles, and decorated more snake oriented artwork. Everything, from the torch holders to the bedposts, had a snake shown in its shape. As she stared into the room she saw someone sitting upon the bed, his back to her, and she dared to question.

"Orochimaru-sama?" She asked, softly.

The figure shifted slightly, and then came to his feet, coming around the bed. It was made obvious that he had been woken up for the news she had to bring, as he held the bedposts as he passed them. As he turned and walked around the bed to speak with her, she took note that three snakes, all of a large variety, slithered out from under the bed, playing about their master's feet.

"Himori." He answered her, lifting his head to look at her properly.

Himori had never seen her leader in person, but had heard many tales of both the horror and mercy he was capable of. But of the many things she had heard of them, only one came to mind as she stared upon his face.

He had the yellow eyes of a snake. These eyes glowed, unwavering and not dulled in the slightest by sleep.

She held out the headband at once, mesmerized. "S-Sir."

His eyes tracked down to the metal plated headband in her hands, and noted her hands were shaking. He gently took the headband, but also took her hand, smiling at her softly.

"Don't be afraid. You bring me a sign of your loyalty. You will be rewarded properly. How did you find this?"

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Sir, we have guests at the Yagioke Okiya. I saw one of them with a mark much like the ones some of your men bear... upon further investigation I found this among their things."

He nodded slightly, keeping the headband and still holding her hand. "These... 'guests' of yours will be apprehended, Himori."

She bowed her head to him. "Thank you. If I may request, I simply wish enough money to pay my debts and travel."

"Travel?" He repeated after her. "Where to?"

"Sir, I was sold into service originally in the Land of Waves. I have heard that things have turned much more prosperous now, so I wish to return home and continue my art there."

"I see." He nodded while letting her go. "Please, step outside. I will arrange with the shinobi outside that you get your just reward."

She nodded, backing out and bowing, turning to open the door and let herself out.

Orochimaru greeted Kabuto as he entered with a nod.

"A headband." Kabuto muttered, looking at what his master held.

"It means they'll be alerted to their own blown cover." Orochimaru muttered. "They could be already be gone, thanks to that greedy wretch outside..."

"You still promised her a reward."

Orochimaru blinked, and then nodded. "That I did, didn't I? Fine. I promised her a _just_ reward, a reward that she deserves."

Orochimaru looked directly at Kabuto, his yellow eyes narrowed into slits.

"Kill her."

* * *

Holy wow I managed to update twice within the same week. Something must be wrong with me.

Or the story is just moving really quickly.

And no one is reviewing. Again.

Oh well.

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	34. Connecting Dots

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Four- Connecting Dots**

Loor woke up to rough shaking. She tried to lash out at first, but the person who was shaking her had already restrained her fists. Without the ability to attack, she opened her eyes and tried to sit up with a gasp, her body jump-starting.

Fury sat over her, wide-eyed and scared, Daiske next to her.

Loor blinked a few times, but was quickly picking up on the vibe that something was very wrong.

"What's going on?"

They didn't answer her, both grabbing her hands and leading her out of the room and down the hall towards the door that lead outside. No one stopped for shoes, Fury and Daiske letting go of Loor to throw open the door and point.

Loor blinked again, stepping out into the late-noon light, as that was the time the Okiya woke up, and into the garden. Beyond the garden, beyond the gate, she saw the focus of the Maikos' shock and fear. At first she could not see clearly, but with a few more steps towards the gate the horrific image became all to clear.

There, just outside the gate, holding the bars as if she was trying to pry the gate open, was Himori.

She was dead.

She was dressed fully, in a fine kimono and more jewelry than usually warranted, completely in order besides the look of the horror on her face and the fact that her throat was slit, blood split down her front, ruining the kimono, and sprayed on the stones of the walkway and the bars of the gate.

Daiske began to cry, turning to Fury and taking her up into a hug that would not be denied. Fury, feeling sorry for her, held her and patted her back, muttering comfort.

Loor took a step closer to the gate, her bear feet feeling the cold damp of blood that was perhaps a few hours old. There was enough that it had not dried. She reached forward, uncurling Himori's cold, dead, stiff hands from the bars to open the gate. Once her dead hold was broken, Himori's corpse fell to the street, and Loor took up the dead weight to drag it inside the gate and past the street's view.

She then turned to Fury, who was still holding Daiske while watching and looking disgusted. "I will tell Yunakomi, and make her aware that we leave tonight after the performance."

Fury nodded slightly, dazed and grossed out as Loor left them, only taking time to wipe her feet before entering the Okiya so she didn't track blood inside. She soon returned with Yunakomi, who was also just out of bed, and pointed to the corpse.

Yunakomi, shocked, seem to swoon on the spot. Loor took the woman's hand to steady her, but she shook it off after a moment.

"Strip her." Yunakomi commanded. "Strip her and bury her in the garden."

And so it was Loor, Fury, and Daiske's task of the day to strip Himori's corpse of everything, even the ruined kimono, and bury her. It was a job that took hours, and Daiske could not stop crying, her tears waning now and then and coming back full force the very next time she glanced at the dead body.

Loor took the job of stripping the corpse as Daiske and Fury went to dig a hole within the garden that surrounded the Okiya. She was less sentimental, and not easily grossed out. Loor noticed that the girl had put on a very flashy expensive kimono, and was wearing as much jewelry as she could fit into her hair. As she proceeded to strip the body of the kimono she found that the deep sleeves of the kimono, often used by Geisha as pockets, were filled with money.

Himori had everything material that she had been able to get her hands on.

"She was running away." Loor said absently, staring at the half nude corpse.

"Huh?" Fury glanced over, seeing Loor standing over the body with the kimono in her hands. "What's up?"

"Himori... she had everything of worth with her. Whatever stolen jewels she hadn't sold yet, money, this kimono... all high in material value. She was running away. No one came into the Okiya to kill her, she was outside, trying to get away."

Daiske looked up now, sniveling. "But... but... she didn't have enough money yet... she told me she still had years of saving, even.... even with my help... before she could leave."

"Well apparently she thought she had a way to get rich quick." Loor muttered, leaning down to continue the job of preparing the body. "And someone killed her on the way out."

"But who would kill her and not also rob her?" Daiske asked, blinking and confused. "She has everything... The kimono is not even torn."

"I don't know..." Loor sighed. "A pleasure killer. She talked about people in the village that would raid and kill at random. Maybe she ran into one, a real psycho, who does it for fun."

Loor shivered, shaking her head. It was sickening, even for her. Eventually she finished stripping the body, laying the various things aside and helping Fury and Daiske with the hole. It was long, dirty work, and it wasn't until sundown that the hole was big enough to place the body into. Covering the body was slightly easier work, as the dirt was already loose, but it still had to take the larger part of an hour.

When the deed was done the three of them trooped inside. Yunakomi was waiting for them, a stern look on her face. She waved Daiske on, but stopped Loor and Fury.

"It is a dark thing, when a Geisha dies." Yunakomi said quietly. "We have no ceremony. No one will remember her, but perhaps Daiske."

All Loor and Fury could do was nod solemnly.

Yunakomi sighed, shaking her head. "Guests should not have to be involved with such things. If you wish to leave now, myself and Daiske can handle things here. You are not bound to this place. I will not fault you for getting out of here as quickly as possible."

"We'd rather stay and help you tonight." Loor answered.

Yunakomi nodded slightly. "That is well... Daiske will be grieving. I am not sure she will be able to smile at all tonight."

"That is what the mask is for." Loor murmured. "But we will take our leave tonight. You understand, I'm sure."

The Okiya mother nodded, breathing a heavy sigh and moving to go, to get ready for the evening. "Clean yourselves up, we must have the teahouse open soon."

"_Hai, Okaa-san." _

* * *

"It's not fair..." Fury muttered. She and Loor were in their own quarters, cleaned, their faces painted, and nearly ready to go. Loor was dressing Fury in her kimono, both of them donning the clothes that Saikomi had given them. "I mean... Himori was a bitch, but now Daiske is all alone... again."

"I know." Loor said, though her voice was hard. "But there's nothing we can do about it. Don't get sympathetic. We have a mission to finish."

"Yeah..." Fury sighed, shaking her head as Loor pulled the obi tight on her middle, tying the knot. "I know. I wish there was though..."

"Stop wishing... I feel guilty enough already."

"Guilty?"

"I know, I have no reason to... but the fact that we were here for her death, the fact that we were a part of this at all... makes me feel guilty."

Loor let her hands fall, finished with the obi. Fury stepped away, and Loor turned to get herself dressed. Fury, not to stand idle, went to return the help her sister gave her. It wasn't proper, but no one was watching. They didn't talk during that time, Fury patting Loor's shoulder when she was done.

Loor sighed and stepped away, turning to their bedrolls on the floor. Both girls went to work cleaning up the room to leave it as they had found it. Once the blankets were folded and the bedrolls were rolled up again, Loor turned to the storage closet in the wall, sliding it open and looking inside.

Inside was a little glint of metal, shining in the light form the room. Loor smiled. She had used sticky jutsu on the headbands, just in case someone did find them and tried to take them, though she hadn't used a whole lot of chakra in the jutsu. It had probably worn off by now. She reached in, taking hold and pulling one headband out and looking at it in the light. The scratches in the metal and grass stains on the band identified it as her headband, and she tucked it into her obi, reaching in once again to find Fury's and return it to her.

Her fingers found the back corner of the storage cupboard, and nothing more. Loor's fingers scrabbled about for a few moments more, and eventually she did find something.

Her hand came back with a corner of ripped cloth, blue, like the cloth that made up a band.

Loor stared at it, and suddenly realized something with horror.

"Your headband is gone." She said, leaning on the wall in shock.

"What?" Fury questioned. "What do you mean, gone?" She asked while coming to see what Loor was holding. "I thought you made it so they couldn't be taken."

"I made it so if someone tried they'd have a hell of a time doing it. If someone pulls against sticky jutsu hard enough, the only parts guaranteed to stay are the ones in full contact with the stick-zone... I only stuck the corners." Loor held out the shred of blue cloth, dazed.

Fury took it, and frowned before looking up at Loor. "Himori wasn't killed by a pleasure killer."

Loor looked over at Fury, her face sick with the truth, completing the thought for her sister.

"She turned us in to Orochimaru... and he killed her as a warning. He wants us to know he's coming."

The sisters stared at each other.

"We need to get out of here." Loor said in shock. "We can't let him see us."

"But what about Yunakomi and Daiske?" Fury questioned. "We already promised--"

"Don't you get it?" Loor hissed. "If Orochimaru gets his hands on us, we are as good as dead, or worse! Fury, I can't face him yet... We can't. We have to get out of here, _now."_

"Calm down." Fury advised. "We don't look like ourselves. Our marks are covered. There are three of us that are the proper age, including Daiske. We all look the same. We can still pull this off and not make too much noise."

Loor took a deep breath, trying to calm down. What Fury said made sense. Neither of them looked quite right, what with their black hair and painted faces, their kimono and their decorations. And there were three of them. If Loor knew Orochimaru the way she thought she knew him, he wouldn't risk grabbing the wrong person unless he had to. He didn't like making mistakes.

"He won't make a move till he knows it's us." Loor sighed, nodding. "We play it cool and blend in, and leave before closing time, and we might just pull this off."

* * *

Loor and Fury did their best to be discreet once their night at the teahouse had started. The plan was to stay as long as possible, for Yunakomi and Daiske's sake, and make their move the second Orochimaru showed up. Loor would make a move for the back room and dispose of the scrolls and Fury would go to Yunakomi, informing the woman that they would perform for the night and then take their leave.

That was the plan, and Loor let herself think that it would work. She sat with the men in attendance, chatting calmly, practicing a voice that didn't sound like her usual brash tones. She had learned how to speak properly, but Orochimaru knew her voice. She did her best to alter it through the night, convincing herself that she wasn't being petty. If she was forced to confront him, she had to keep calm.

He would be looking for her, testing anyone who came into his range. She knew that.

Fury, at the same time as being as nervous as Loor was, was also supporting Daiske. The two Maiko stayed close together, pouring tea and lighting cigarettes and cigars. Fury couldn't tell if it was helping Daiske at all, but she hoped it was.

Fury, like Loor, felt a pang of guilt. But now it had reason. If Himori had not found that headband, _her_ headband, she would not have tried to turn them in for the reward money, and probably wouldn't be dead.

Thankfully, the smell of the tea did something to calm Fury's nerves and sooth her mind. The work was ultimately brainless, as Maiko were not meant to speak much, so Fury's thoughts turned to things in the future. Once they were out of there they would have to assume that Orochimaru would raise a general alert. He'd already gone to a lot of trouble to get them, and he knew they were there.

They had to get out and get moving before he caught up. Getting out of the Okiya was just the first step in a long and dangerous plan.

And that plan was about to begin.

Not even an hour into work at the teahouse, he entered.

Loor noticed before Fury did, but soon all of those in attendance turned to the entrance of the teahouse and bowed down. Loor and Fury followed suit, quietly, while horribly aware of just how exposed they were.

In the doorway stood Orochimaru, flanked by two shinobi. One was expected; Kabuto, as he went everywhere with his master. The second, on the other hand, came out of left field for both Loor and Fury. There, in the flesh, was none other than Sasuke.

Loor had nearly forgotten about him, and his loyalties to Orochimaru. Nearly.

"Evening." Orochimaru greeted the general public. "Please, don't bother yourselves. I come to rest from my duties."

Slowly people returned to sitting up straight, and Yunakomi pulled herself out of her current conversation with a patron to formally greet Orochimaru and show him and his entourage to the center of the table; the seat of honor.

Loor was not far, facing another customer and pretending to be interested in what he was saying. Still, as she absently nodded and smiled at the man before her, she was listening all too closely to Orochimaru and Yunakomi.

"Orochimaru-sama, we were not expecting you this evening. Had you informed us, we would have planned something special."

"No need, Yunakomi. But I have a question for you."

"Anything, Sir."

"I had heard that you currently have visiting Geisha within your Okiya. I was hoping to see a performance from them before they left our village."

Loor tensed, resisting the urge to look back and almost losing the smile she kept on her face.

"I'm afraid you've just missed them. We... one of our own turned up dead this morning, and it unsettled them so much that they took leave. My apologies."

"No, it is my apologies to you. Such a sad thing, a Geisha's passing. It is why you hide within your gates and walls, no? To stay safe?"

"Yes. We would not survive in the outside world. It is far too harsh for our kind."

There was a pause. Loor once again resisted the urge to turn and look, to see what kind of face Orochimaru wore, and why Yunakomi had decided to hide Loor and Fury's presence.

"Carry on, Yunakomi. Pray your loyalty keeps the harshness of the outside world from breaking down your gates."

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama."

Yunakomi got up, and Loor looked as the woman stopped by her and gently separated Loor form the man that had been speaking with her. The two stood back a bit from the table, and Yunakomi spoke low.

"I do not know why he is looking for you... but his intentions are never good. Do not linger long."

Loor nodded slightly, thankful that Yunakomi was kind enough to betray her own brutal leader to keep Fury and herself safe. The two separated quickly, and Loor was about to sit with another group of men when she saw that when Yunakomi attempted to sit with Orochimaru again he shook his head and pointed.

He wanted Loor's company.

Loor wanted to curse, but knew to keep her smile light and her tone proper. He was probably still suspicious. The smallest slip would be the end.

Yunakomi moved on as Loor sat between Orochimaru and Sasuke, Kabuto on the other side of his master.

"I have not seen you here before, Geisha." Orochimaru addressed kindly. "Though, I will admit long absence from the tea houses of this village."

"A pity." Loor answered. "Any tea house would be most lucky to receive someone of your prestige."

"Please, I am simply a man who wanted to start something, and had the power to do so."

"To start something?" Loor asked with curiosity. It was killing her to just sit there, in the act, when Orochimaru was mere inches from her grasp, but she suddenly realized something.

As long as he thought her a Geisha, she had the chance to pick his brain. For the first time she found herself in a position to find his motives, perhaps even figure out whether or not there was a human being somewhere behind his snake-like gaze.

It was both terrifying and fascinating.

"Yes." He confirmed with a slight nod. "I find it so boring when things are standing still... so I used my talent to start this village, build up my following, and put things into motion."

"What kind of things?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "Things your kind have no interest in, or so I am told."

She did her best to smile sweetly at him. "Sir, we are paid to be interested in anything you might have to say."

"What about war?"

Loor turned her head to Sasuke, at her other side, who had spoken.

"Because that's what he's talking about." The dark haired youth said. "War on the world."

"Sasuke-kun, you exaggerate." Orochimaru chuckled. "One does not declare war on the world; that is impossible. The trick is to challenge one part of the world at a time."

"Tricks..." Loor muttered. "You talk as if it is a game."

"But it is!" Orochimaru broke out in a truly happy smile, which was all the more creepy. "The greatest game, and all the people of the world are players. Some more prominent than others, but you would be surprised on how even the smallest player can create a turning point. I myself have learned the hard way."

"Really? How so?"

"Ah, now you grow too curious." Orochimaru smiled at her again. "Perhaps I should change to some lighter conversation that a Geisha would understand."

"Do you have a particular taste for tea, Sir?"

Orochimaru turned to see Daiske, her head bent and the teapot in front of her. Loor thought that strange. Daiske was not usually trusted with the teapot. At once she looked for Fury, and found her in the corner, near the door to the back room, speaking with Yunakomi.

"Whatever you choose to serve me, Maiko." He answered, pushing his cup forward her Daiske to serve. Sasuke and Kabuto did likewise, the three of them drinking. Orochimaru was about to speak again when Yunakomi moved from the corner to the stage area. At once her shoes made noise enough to attract all attention to the front and center, where she stood.

Yunakomi started with bowing her head to all assembled. "Good evening, everyone. I am happy to greet you all, and welcome you to Yagioke Tea House. Unfortunately, though, in a lapse of memory that I find us short the proper supplies to keep our services. We will be closing early tonight, shortly after the traditional performance. As an apology you are all invited to return to us tomorrow evening, free of charge."

This announcement got a mixed reaction as Yunakomi stepped down, motioning Loor over. Loor excused herself from Orochimaru's presence and hustled over to the woman, listening to people mutter to each other, some praising Yunakomi's willingness to admit her own mistake, others scolding her poor management. Still, all of them agreed that a free pass for the next day was a wonderful way to refund the experience.

Loor met Yunakomi by the door to the back room.

"Make my lie worth while." Hissed the old woman. "Get that snake out of here. The sooner you and your _Imoto-chan _preform, the sooner Daiske is safe."

"Understood." Loor said with a nod, passing the woman into the back room.

She entered as Fury came around from the back areas, fans in her hands. "Yunakomi wants us to go on as soon as possible."

"I know." Loor answered. "We can dispose of the scrolls after the performance as everyone is leaving. Go on out there, I'll be right behind you."

Fury nodded, walking past her sister and into the main room as Loor went to the back room, picking up the shamisen she had played two nights in a row now. Her hands were shaking from her close encounter with Orochimaru, but she wore a smile now.

They were so close to a clean getaway.

That's when Loor heard yelling and the sound of a table turning over.

She looked up at once, frozen for a moment before she dared to peek her head out from the corner, looking through the short hallway and back into the main room.

Her stomach flipped.

The long table was overturned, men cowering against the walls, Yunakomi standing back, shocked. Sasuke held Daiske, a kunai in his hand. Kabuto was on the other side of the room, having seized Fury and holding her in a similar fashion with the curved kunai that he liked to use.

Orochimaru stood in the middle of the room.

"You underestimate me, Loor." He called. "Come out now, and I won't kill anyone. I still can't tell which one of these girls is your sister. Come out, point her out to me, and I'll leave the innocent Maiko alive."

Loor turned back to the back room, going for the scrolls. She trusted Fury to handle the situation out there, she had to get to their objective! Still, she knew she'd never get the marked scrolls in time to make Orochimaru happy.

Instead, she made the sign for tiger and focused upon the whole rack.

Soon it burst into flame, burning up all the scrolls the Okiya had, including the ones that they were sent to destroy.

"Come now, Loor!" Orochimaru called. "It's not like you to hide. Come out, before I get impatient."

Loor moved quickly. The rack was burning and soon the rest of the teahouse would. She came out into the open, standing tall and staring Orochimaru down.

She glanced at Fury, and sighed, pointing.

Orochimaru nodded to Sasuke, who let go of Daiske. The girl quickly ran to Yunakomi, the two huddling like scared rabbits.

Loor turned calmly to them. "There's a fire in the back. Put it out before it gets out of hand."

The two nodded, running without question. At the same time, everyone else who wasn't a shinobi also ran for the other door, soon leaving Loor, Fury, Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke alone.

"We've spent a long time, Loor, trying to track you and your sister down." Orochimaru smirked. "And here we find you, playing dress-up."

Loor wasn't in the mood for conversation. Without a thought, she charged at Orochimaru. Her powerful legs broke free the bounds of the kimono, probably ripping the fabric as she leapt at the creature that dared to call himself a leader.

His pale lips drew into a grin, and he met her, deftly driving a fist into her stomach without effort. She gasped, coughing as he threw her over his shoulder, turning and shaking his head.

"Ah... Loor, you have very much to learn."

She moved to get up, but felt a sharp point at the back of her neck.

Sasuke had moved, standing over her with a sharp katana point resting upon her neck.

"The question is..." Orochimaru smirked. "Will learning it kill you?"

Fury bellowed, but Kabuto held her firmly, not letting go of her. Loor also tried to get out from under Sasuke, but he seized her by the arms and held her with his foot in the middle of her back.

Stuck on the floor, Loor saw Orochimaru walking over to her. She could do nothing but stare at his feet.

A second later, one of his feet came flying at her head.

With a swift kick, she came to know the world as swirling colors, and then black.

* * *

THE SUSPENSE IS OVER!!!

Though some of you knew that I was gonna have Orochimaru capture them. Still. Ha. XP

**Still no ownage.**

-Loor


	35. The Dark

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Five- The Dark**

It was not often that Tsunade delivered messages. Usually, messages were delivered to her, and she had others deliver messages when she needed to have particular shinobi brought to her for briefing. But today was different. Today, she walked the streets of Konoha in dawn light; a slow, weary walk, that spoke sadness and remorse.

In her hand, she bore a message that she felt herself responsible to deliver in person.

Today, it was three months from when Loor and Fury had left the village on their mission.

Today was two months from when they should have returned.

There had been no communication. No sightings. Nothing. Though Tsunade didn't want to believe it, she found herself having to do so.

She carried a message in her hand addressed to Kiba Inuzuka, concerning the status of the mission Fury was on.

As Tsunade made her walk through the village, she feared for the Kazekage's reaction. He had returned home a month ago, called by duty to his village, and a message similar to the on that Tsunade carried for Kiba was coming his way by hawk.

Tsunade felt pity for Gaara. He had waited so long for Loor to come to her senses. And now....

Tsunade closed her eyes, shaking her head. She was now mounting the stairs that would lead her up to the apartment Kiba had been living in with Fury for the past year and a half. She knew that at this early hour Kiba was not likely to be awake, but it was the only time he was likely to be home. He had been keeping himself very busy in Fury's absence, to make time move faster.

Tsunade hesitated to knock on his door, standing just outside and taking a deep breath before doing so.

At first there was no answer, but she knocked again, insistent. This time she heard movement, and a dog barking. Soon, the first dog was joined by a second, and eventually she heard Kiba yelling at them to quiet down.

She knocked again. "Kiba!"

"I'm coming!" He snapped back from inside the apartment. She didn't knock again, waiting as she heard the door unlocking. After a moment it opened to reveal Kiba. He had just rolled out of bed and was hardly dressed; in nothing more than night pants.

"Tsunade..." He yawned, looking up at her. "Why are you here?"

Tsunade opened her mouth to say, but hesitated, not sure if she had the right words to deliver the message she held in her hand. With a pained look she shut her mouth and held out the scroll for him to take.

"A mission?" He asked, eying the scroll, not taking it. "Doesn't Shizune usually hand those out?"

"It's not a mission."

Kiba picked up on Tsunade's tone of voice, and took the scroll while looking at her suspiciously. "Then what is it?"

She shook her head, frowning. He sighed, and opened the scroll to read it. At first he had to squint, hardly out of bed and his eyes slightly blurry. It was a short message, but once he read it his brain at once said what he had read was wrong. He read it again. And again.

He then looked up at Tsunade. "What..?"

Tsunade bowed her head. "There will be a memorial service, on the roof of the Hokage building, in front of the stone faces. It's where we honor all great shinobi. She deserves it... If you feel up to it, it would be good for you to be there and say a few words."

"This can't be true!!" He snapped. "There... there has to be something else! She..."

His eyes clouded; he was on the verge of tears.

"Kiba, it's the only thing I feel would keep her from returning home." Tsunade reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Would you rather I marked her missing? That is the only other alternative."

"She would never!" He yelled at Tsunade. "You know it!"

"I do." Tsunade nodded. "I feel that both her and her sister would be killed before capture, and they'd never turn over willingly. We are at the end of the two month limit, Kiba. There has been nothing to suggest otherwise."

He shook off her hand, growling. "She's not... She can't be..."

Tsunade sighed, shaking her head. "I plan to hold service for her next week, Kiba. Please, think about it."

He looked up, snarling.

"She's not dead!" He bellowed, and then turned back into the apartment and slammed the door.

One inside, both dogs stared at Kiba. Akamaru and Schizo whined slightly, wanting to know what was going on.

He shook his head, tossing the scroll into the trash and walking quickly to his room. The dogs followed him, still whining, as he jumped onto the bed, the bed that he and Fury shared, and thrusted his hand under his pillow. There, he found another scroll.

It was a letter he had received two months ago. It was a letter from Fury, letting him know that she was okay, and everything was going to be alright. That she would be home soon, and everything would be wonderful.

He read that letter, quietly speaking the words outloud to try and sooth himself, but he started to cry onto the paper. Akamaru and Schizo were still whining at him, trying to understand what was going on, but both got up onto the bed when he started to cry. Usually, since the two dogs had crossed the one hundred pound mark, they were not allowed on the bed, but Kiba didn't dispute them as they both nuzzled up to him, their bushy heads resting in his lap as he continued to sob over the letter.

He remembered how he felt when he had gotten that letter. He remembered how happy he had felt, how he had gone to the village gate every day for a week, waiting for her. How hopeful he was about their future together, a future that would be sealed by her leaving the shinobi service in hopes of being a better and more dedicated mother.

And now, her dream was never going to happen. Her dream, and the future he had been looking forward to. Marriage, children, a family, all washed away in an instant.

He lowered the letter, and his head, sniffing.

"She's not dead..." He denied once more. "She can't be."

* * *

"... Gaara?"

When addressed, Gaara looked up with a somewhat glazed look on his face. It was something of a trance he fell into while doing all the paperwork that came with his position as Kazekage, but he was rather quick about coming out of it when he realized it was his sister who addressed him so early in the morning.

"Yes, Temari?" He questioned, sitting up straight in his chair. The office he worked in, not too unlike the Hokage's office in Konoha, was a round room with a desk and a chair and a book shelf off to the side, a window behind the desk looking out onto the village. The major differences were that the room, like most of Suna, was made of the major natural material; sandstone, and that the window was just an opening, lacking glass. Suna had proper walls, both natural and man made, to keep the sandstorms out of the village, so windows were not a problem.

Temari advanced into the office, gently shutting the door and walking up. "You got a message from Konoha. The guy with the hawks said it was urgent... I don't know how he tells, but... yeah."

He nodded as she placed the scroll on the desk. "Have you read it?"

"No." She shook her head, giggling slightly. "I don't read my brother's mail."

"Perhaps you should. If this is just another report on food shipments, it's a waste of my time." He sighed while picking up the scroll and sliding it open, his eyes glazing over it.

"What's it say?" Temari asked as her bother grew more quiet than usual.

Gaara's eyes had grown wide, his usually indifferent face twisting down into a first displeased and this distraught frown. He screwed his eyes closed for a moment and opened them again, as if that would change what it said, before he opened his mouth slightly, shaking his head in shock.

"...no... This can't be right..."

"Hm?" She blinked at him.

He suddenly stood up, frowning and leaving the message on his desk.

Without another word he shouldered the gourd of sand that he always kept at hand, and in one smooth movement turned and launched himself out the window.

Temari stared in shock for a moment, and then snatched up the message to read it.

She blinked, stepping back as if struck. A second later she turned to the door, clutching the message in hand, rushing out and yelling for her other brother.

"Kankuro!!"

She knew Kankuro was not far, he had come with her from the messenger's post. Sure enough, he was hardly down the hall he had taken to get out of the Kazekage's palace and get his day started. Still, at his sister's call, he turned.

"Yeah?" He questioned as she ran up to him, her face showing that she was near frantic.

She didn't say anything, shoving the message into Kankuro's face.

He blinked, took it from her hands, read it, and gasped.

At first, he couldn't believe it.

"It was decoded wrong." He said quickly. "Take it back to the guys and make 'em do it again."

"They didn't decode it wrong." Temari sighed, shaking her head. "It wasn't coded to begin with. No one has read it but us and Gaara..."

"Gaara's already read it?!" Kankuro snapped. "What did he do?"

Temari shook her head, looking near tears. "He ran. I don't know where he's going, but he took off the second he read it."

"Damn..." Kankuro read it again, shaking his head. "It can't be true... can it? I mean... she... I just can't imagine..."

"Me neither." Temari admitted. "But they wouldn't send it unless it was real."

"Maybe they just think it is." Kankuro reasoned. "I mean... other things could have happened, right? She could have gotten captured or delayed or...."

He trailed off, and then shook his head, turning to run down the hall.

"Where are you going??" Temari shouted.

"To find Gaara!" Kankuro shouted back, turning to jog backwards. "You coming?"

Temari stared for a moment before nodding, kicking off to follow her brother.

Gaara needed them.

With Loor dead... he needed them now more than ever.

* * *

Loor awoke from a nightmare.

It was a nightmare where she was trapped, lost in a dark space, cold, hungry, and alone.

There was no sound, in any sense. If she spoke, there were no words. If she punched a wall, there was no sound from the impact. There were no foot falls, not even the drip of water that she was sure existed to keep the place feeling damp and cold. She was never fed, but water would appear when she was thirsty, which she would take greedily in hopes of filling the burning void in her stomach.

But ultimately, she was isolated. She heard nothing, not her voice, not her own thoughts, and in the deprivation of her sense of hearing in every sense of the word she didn't even have Lyra to speak to her. Something was inhibiting her auditory sensors, depriving her of the one companion that she carried with her in her body. There was no other person in her little cell of darkness; alone, and unable to even console herself.

The darkness constricted everything, including her ability to think.

The thing was, her nightmares were exactly like her waking reality, to the point when she failed to distinguish dreams from reality anymore. Actually, that was a lie. She knew when she was dreaming, because her dreams always stared back at the beginning, when there was one last glimpse of light.

That last moment of light before she had been kicked in the head by Orochimaru, left with her head spinning till she awoke in this place.

This place that could only be described as a prison.

When she first awoke, she expected that she was in nothing but a holding cell, waiting for interrogation or whatever else Orochimaru did with his prisoners. She comforted herself with this thought, pretending that this darkness would not last for more than a few hours.

She found herself wrong. At first it was a day, the passage of time identified only by a dim flash of light from one side of the room that brought water into her midst. Once a day it was tossed in with her, and when she was finished with it she left it on the floor to somehow vanish and be replaced the next day.

She counted water canisters to count the flow of days, and by the time she had been in for a week she came to understand that this was more than holding. She wasn't being fed, only watered, and she could feel herself shriveling up. It was by about a week in that she realized her wig was gone, half an inch of her own hair on her head that she could feel. She also realized that the kimono was gone, dressed in another robe that was shorter.

Day by day, Loor explored her cell, feeling her way about the stone walls and the wooden door that water came through. She soon found that there was a flap on the bottom, but it only opened one way. She tried, perhaps for hours, to wedge her nails into the flap and open it, but to no avail. Still, now knowing that the water arrived through a flap and not in a flash of light, she used the moments of light to her advantage. She would stare out at her pure-dark prison when she felt that she was due for her next watering, and in the brief moment she would see what little there was to see.

Stone walls. Stone floor. A drain at the end of the room that she had found as the sloping point of the floor; meant to be the bathroom. At first solid waste was something of an issue, but soon enough Loor stopped producing that; only being given drink, not food. The smell was never good though, and because of the open drain it was always slightly damp in the room.

At the end of her second week, it became apparent that this room was a torture chamber. Loor had nearly forgotten the sound of her own voice, as when she tried to speak she could not hear herself, and stopped trying after a day or two. After the first week she had tried to break down the door, but she was already weak from not eating. Not two seconds after that she attempted to burn the door down with the same jutsu she had used to burn the scrolls in the Okiya, only to discover something more horrifying.

She could not bring up enough chakra for even the most basic of jutsu. It wasn't just not eating; it was as if she had been drained somehow.

By the end of that second horrid week, Loor began to lose her mind. Mad with hunger, dizzy and weak, she crawled about the cell, feeling the walls as if she would find escape. She even went to the sewer grate, grabbing at the bars and yanking at them. She was willing to take a dip in sewage if it meant getting out of the dark.

Alas, it did not budge.

Loor began to wonder if she was going to starve to death in this dark hole.

Her wondering turned to certainty when the water didn't arrive when she felt it should have.

They weren't just going to starve her to death, they were going to get rid of the water too. Maybe they'd wait till she was at the edge of dying of thirst and then cut the air too.

She sat in the corner, curled up and awake from her nightmare, but still trapped in it. Still trapped and cold, and hungry, and without most of her senses.

And alone. That was the ultimate cruelty. If she hadn't been alone, and voiceless, she would not be so close to insanity.

Trapped with her ears boxed; without even Lyra's voice, who would have been welcome in these conditions.

That's when Loor noticed something in her stupor.

She could hear. It was the sound of flowing water, from the other side of the room.

The sewer. She could hear the water running in the sewer.

She blinked, though it didn't do anything, and licked her lips.

"Hello?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin at hearing her own voice. It was a shock, but it gave her more confidence. She slowly hefted herself to her feet, dizzy and weak from hunger by managing to stay upright by leaning on the wall. She felt her way along till her hands found the door, and once she found it she pounded on it as hard as she could with her fist.

She could hear the noise. She pounded harder, gritting her teeth as her whole body protested this waste of energy.

But she felt that if there was a hope of someone hearing her, she had to jump at that hope.

As if to answer her, she heard a voice. It had been so long since she had heard words, she almost didn't understand what it said. Still, she strained her brain over it until the noise made sense to her.

"Close your eyes. I'm going to open the door."

Loor's hope blossomed into excitement, and she did as she was told, covering her eyes and closing them.

The door opened, and she felt someone's hands take her shoulders gently, leading her out.

"Take your hands away slowly. If you go too fast you'll blind yourself."

Loor was too tired and too hungry to argue with the voice, complying while leaning on the hands that held her upright.

Eventually her eyes adjusted to the first light she had seen in two weeks, aside from the flashes that appeared in her cell.

Her eyes opened, and came upon a sight that made her wish she was blind.

Orochimaru stood before her.

"Hello, Loor." He said with an almost cheery tone. "I trust you have seen enough punishment to at least listen to what I have to say before you try to rip my head off."

* * *

You know... writing Orochimaru is kinda fun. He's not intangible, like most villains. He started out, essentially, as a man. That means somewhere in his being he feels what he is doing is the right thing to do.

Creepy, no?

**If I owned it, I would have gone bankrupt by now.**

-Loor


	36. The Offer

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Six- The Offer**

"As you can see, I'm fully capable of restraining you at will."

Loor was walking at Orochimaru's side down a dark hallway. Though 'walking' was a strange term to use. He had at least four goons with him, two of them pretty much carrying her by the shoulders since she hadn't the strength to walk on her own after two weeks of starvation.

Despite this, Loor still made a point of showing some resistance by snorting at him, throwing her head forward as if she would break free of the men carrying her and bite their snake-like master. "Restraining?" She spat, quite literally, her weakness nearly having her foaming at the mouth. "You... you... you locked me up... no food... ugh..." She winced, pain blossoming in her head with the ever constant dizziness.

"Ah, yes. That is normal treatment of prisoners." He waved it off as if it were no matter. "Like I said, I wanted you to listen to me."

"You have my attention." She managed to say without wheezing, gritting her teeth.

"Relax." He advised. "Those two are there to carry you. You don't have to exert yourself to walk on your own."

"I... like my way."

"Of course; that's always been one of your little flaws."

She growled at him, straining against the men who were leading her and nearly losing what little footing she had. She was enraged, and hardly thinking, her teeth barred. "Why couldn't I do jutsu in the cell? Why... why... how do you cut off the senses like that??"

He chuckled at her, which she hated. It made her feel like he knew something she didn't. Unfortunately, that was currently true. As her brain was getting over the fact that she had her senses back, she realized that she was on his turf.

She tried not to be scared, but fear was an emotion she could not refuse herself in this situation.

"You're so scattered. But do not worry, I plan to make a simple deal with you. It's an offer I've made before... and perhaps if you had listened then I wouldn't have had to put you in a cell in the first place."

All Loor could do was growl at him, breathing too hard to try and talk again.

"You see, Loor," Orochimaru looked at her directly, getting her to meet his eyes, "I've spent quite some time trying to get a hold of you and your sister... And it is somewhat impressive that you two have managed to evade me this long. But now that you are here you have probably realized that I control every aspect of your life. You've seen what I'm willing to take from you, and if you turn out to be totally uncooperative I am perfectly content to let you starve to death in one of those cells, alone."

He paused, watching her face, which was twisted up in disgust and the pain coming from how weak she was.

"But it doesn't have to be that way. Most of the shinobi within my employ live quite well. And so can you. Agree to forsake the Leaf village, wear the Sound headband, take missions, and you will be treated fairly."

"And if not?" She managed, working to breathe normally.

"You'll be put back into the same little hole we just took you out of till you starve."

Loor lowered her head slightly, sighing. Orochimaru watched her expectantly as the group entered a more ornate hallway; decorated with snakes, the ceiling painted in serpentine lines.

She passed out a moment later, which is exactly what Orochimaru expected her to do. She hadn't been fed in two weeks, of course, and what sleep anyone got in a cell wasn't exactly restful. Forcing her to get up and move, and then confront her brain with such a big thought, was a great way to overload someone to the point of shut down.

The group arrived at his quarters, and Loor was left to rest on his bed, two shinobi on the inside to feed her when she woke up, two on the outside to prevent her from escaping if she tried. She'd still be slow, the drugged water given to her in the prison making sure of that. It was something Kabuto himself developed to drain chakra and keep a person operating on bear minimum so they'd be incapable of jutsu.

Inspired by what Tsunade had done to Jiraiya before the woman had decided to be Hokage. Rather ironic.

Still, even with Loor slowed down, Orochimaru expected at least two people would be needed to hold her down if she tried to make a break for it. Even if he hadn't been able to get a snatch-and-grab team into Konoha, he had been able to smuggle spies to see her progress. The girl could probably challenge Sasuke and come out alive.

Once the security detail was in place, Orochimaru turned to return to the prison.

He would meet Kabuto there, and they would bring Fury out of her cell.

* * *

Loor came around with very little memory of what had happened after she left her cell. She hardly remembered leaving the cell at all, and was throughly shocked when she awoke in a place that wasn't the cold stone floor she'd been sleeping upon for the last two weeks.

Instead, she was on a bed. There was a pillow under her head and soft blankets under her body. Confused, she lifted her head a little, only to put it right back down while remembering how hungry and dizzy she was.

And remembering Orochimaru. He had taken her out of her cell. Made her an offer, though she couldn't remember what it was, while taking her someplace. She blinked a few more times, groggily, before forcing her deprived body into a sitting up position to look around.

What she saw was almost more dizzying than the pain in the pit of her stomach.

It was a room of snakes. The bedposts, the things in the walls holding sources of light, the legs of a lounge chair in the corner, all carved like snakes down to the little details of the scales. Her vision, still blurry, made them look alive, and she at once curled her legs under her body while glancing about.

That's when she noticed another snake. This one wasn't carved though. It was a real live serpent, coiled about the bedpost and flowing onto the blankets to investigate her.

Loor stared, not sure what to make of this. She had never really minded snakes, as animals, anyway, but she could only assume that this slippery reptile was a pet within the compound... and she had no idea what kind of temperament to expect.

Still, the snake flicked out its tongue a few times before coming up further and wrapping around her arm as a way to climb up, soon draped across Loor's shoulders.

Loor actually felt a smile come across her face before she remembered her situation. She started looking around again, and noticed something else.

There were two other snakes in the room, both of them making for her.

"Uh..." She now shifted uncomfortably. On snake was okay, but three was starting to get creepy.

"Don't mind 'em. They just like the warmth, and I wouldn't let them bother you while you were sleeping."

Loor snapped her head over when she heard a voice to find she had missed an entire corner of the room; the one with the door. There were two grunts there, watching her. After a few moments Loor remembered them. They were the two that carried her to this room.

"What... what's going on?" She questioned as the two other snakes in the room started up her legs, seeking to get warm off of her body heat. It was a strange feeling as she was soon wrapped up by three different snakes. They didn't squeeze her at all, but she could feel the muscle mass in their bodies. If any one of these creatures wanted to crush her to death, they probably could.

One of the shinobi walked up, sitting next to Loor and reaching into a pouch, producing something that almost made Loor forget about all the questions she had.

Bread.

She snatched it from him before it was offered, greedily munching on the small roll. It was chewy with a hard crust, but she could care, devouring it and at once looking at the guy as if to silently beg for more.

Both he and the other shinobi chuckled at her. They found this funny, but she was desperately hungry. She was ready to tackle to the guy on the off chance that he had any more, not thinking about the fact that a sudden action like that would probably spook all three of the snakes wrapped up around her body.

She relaxed when she found she didn't have to tackle him. He produced another roll without any prodding.

"Orochimaru-sama wants to talk to you," The guy feeding her said, "But you made it kinda obvious before that you needed a little more in your system before you'd be able to talk."

"What does he want?" She asked after finishing another roll, licking her fingers for the crumbs in the time it took him to give her another one.

"Simple, kid." The guy laughed at her again. "He wants to train you, but in return you gotta do his work."

She stopped eating as he said this, looking up at him in some shock. "What?" She questioned. "And he thinks I'll listen to him?"

"What choice do you have?" The guy at the door asked, his arms crossed. "You want to go back to that pit and starve to death?"

"No." She took a deep breath, shaking her head. "But I'd take that before I'd work for that sick bastard." She started eating again. She was too hungry to ignore food, even if it was from the oppressor.

"He won't let it go that easily." The guy with the rolls reached out to tap the side of her neck. "You got a mark. Means he likes you. He'll bring you out like this, work you, beat you, anything to get you to obey. And if you don't... he'll take you out of the cell, feed you a bit like this, and then starve you all over again. When it comes to ones with marks, he'll keep you alive till you beg to be killed."

"So what?" She asked with a full mouth, swallowing and breathing. "Give up and take the easy way out? I don't think so."

"I hate it when he does this..." The one by the door said. "Feeding the spirited ones tends to give 'em hope that they might escape."

Loor growled, moving to get up when she was caught by the one next to her, forced to sit still. "Take it easy. You spook Orochimaru-sama's pets, they might bite. It ain't killer, but it ain't fun neither."

She sighed, giving the guy a look before making another attempt at relaxing a bit. "So... what kind of work does Orochimaru have his people do?"

"Whatever needs to be done." The one by the door shrugged. "Just like other villages. Missions have ranks, you get missions according to your skill level... and we are preparing for war. Orochimaru has plans to invade in a few years, so we get sent on everything from stealing maps to assassinating leaders to going to a village and blending in to spy on the general goings on. Orochimaru knows all of us, hand-picked most of us, so he knows whether or not you're ready for something."

Loor wanted to gag. The guy by the door was talking about Orochimaru like he was the best leader ever, despite the fact that the man was planning to invade and conquer most of the world and kill millions of innocent people along the way.

"And the cruelty he uses on his prisoners is just no-matter to you?" Loor questioned.

"It's necessary." He answered. "Most people do no understand his vision, simply focusing on his methods. If he hadn't done what he did, you would have tried to kill him the second you had the chance. But since you're weakened you'll hopefully know better when he confronts you, and you'll listen to him. These methods has actually saved a great many lives by weakening shinobi to the point that they will see sense."

"You mean by forcing them to be so desperate that they'll take any means of life over death?!" Loor snarled, still shaking from hunger but not in so much debilitating pain. "That's not seeing sense, that's simply bearing a person down to their most basic instincts!"

"And it gives them time to learn."

All three people looked to the now open door.

Orochimaru stood there with a smug smirk.

"You!" Loor snapped. "Where is my sister?!"

"Ah..." Orochimaru smiled. "I'm glad you've gotten your priorities a little more in order. I think some years ago you would have simply tried to kill me without asking about her at all." He looked to the two other shinobi. "You are dismissed. I can handle her myself."

"Yessir." The both responded, quickly vacating the room.

"I see a little bread has already put a little fight back into you." He smirked at her. "Though I expected that... as I expected you disagreeing with my methods. Still, I wonder if you've ever seen fit to research the torture department in Konoha. My dealings with prisoners are quite tame compared to theirs. You might even call me merciful."

Loor actually blinked. "Konoha has a torture department?"

"Ah, the bliss of ignorance. You're still so child-like. I've gotten so many reports of how you've grown as a shinobi, I was afraid you'd be too much like Sasuke-kun... or perhaps you would have become manipulative and secretive like Kabuto. Instead, I find you just the way I left you. Delightful."

She gritted her teeth, but then closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe, her face smoothing out of an angry glower. In moments she was calm, looking up at him evenly. "You wanted to speak with me?"

He feigned surprise, seeming rather entertained. "Perhaps you have grown up a little bit. When was the last time we saw each other, Loor?" He asked as if they were old comrades, or friends. "A year and a half ago? Two years? How old are you now? Fifteen, like Sasuke, or is your birthday earlier?"

"You should know my birthday." She said with a straight face, working hard to keep her rage in check. "It was the day you made me. The day you killed them."

"That was your birthday?" He snickered. "My apologies, little Loor. I never knew. Fifteen then, like Sasuke-kun. And a chunnin. Practically an adult."

She had to take another breath. "Stop trying to push my buttons and get to the point."

"No fun at all." He chuckled. "Your sister became sick in the cell. I didn't know her immune system was so weak. If we hadn't gotten her out today, she could have died. But don't fret, Kabuto is treating her now. She should be just fine."

"Get to the point." Loor repeated, feeling her fists clench, refusing both her anger and her ADHD.

"Goodness, you _are_ like Sasuke. _Too _focused at times. Fine then, I'll be blunt." He said this before making a noise somewhat like a hiss. At once all three snakes on Loor's body responded, sliding off of her and going to their master, twisting about his feet before vanishing under the bed. "I've been keeping an eye on you, Loor. I've seen how you have developed your skills. In particular, taijutsu and stealth. You're quick-witted, and excelling at seeing traps before you fall into them. According to a few reports I've heard, Tsunade was going to make you a Jonin in a few years when she felt you were ready to start teaching. All deserved, but I have a different use for you."

"What?"

"You're paranoid. It makes you careful, and sneaky. I see you as an assassin. A thief of life and valuable information. If you decided to follow orders... those would be the ones I'd give you."

"The only person I plan on killing is you." Loor said without hesitation. "Other than that, I'm not interested."

"So you would rather go back to that hole?" He questioned, not missing a beat. "Rather go back to starving, surviving on water alone, unable to hear your own voice or anything else? I can have you back in that little cell in seconds, little Loor."

"Then do it." She snapped defiantly. "You got my answer two years ago."

"I hold your life, Loor." He reminded. "If you want to live long enough to challenge me, you might as well do as I say."

She shook her head, biting her lower lip to think. When she spoke again, it was with absolute certainty.

"I would rather lose my life than spend even a second of it helping you."

"Fine." As he said the word the two shinobi from before plus another two came back in, two grabbing her and the extras ready to restrain her if she tried anything. "We'll see if you still think that in another two weeks... that is, if you're still alive."

Loor felt a sudden hit on the back of her head, and once again her world faded to black.

* * *

Ah... finally.

THE GOOD BITS!!!

I'm so happy to finally get to this part of the story. I've been looking forward to it for like... forever.

But sadly, this is the end of this update stint.

So I shall leave you here.

See you next time punks.

**Dude. Stop asking. **

-Loor


	37. Hope and Medicine

**Markings- Punishment  
Chapter Thirty Seven- Hope and Medicine**

Rishu was present when Loor was returned to her cell. He had also been present when she was taken from her cell, and before that when she had arrived. This was because he lived in the prison block, but she was one of the few transfers that he actually paid attention to.

This was the one person that he didn't want to see here. This was the one person who didn't belong anywhere close to Orochimaru, and yet, here she was. Carried in, unconscious, for him to redo the jutsu on her cell that made it not sound-proof but sound-free.

He had actually hoped that she would just go into service to save herself this treatment, but he knew better. She could never go against what she believed. That was one of her qualities that he admired, so he came to curse his hope of her giving in to avoid pain. In enduring it, she served to show resistance.

And after Orochimaru left, taking his goons with him, Rishu went to lean on her door, sighing.

He had seen her in the dim light, seen how broken and wasted away she was. And Orochimaru planned to leave her there for another two weeks. Rishu knew this routine. It was a test. She'd either survive and pass on to the next bout of his obedience training, or starve in the cell.

Rishu wanted to release the jutsu, unlock the door, and push her into escape, but even at full power he knew that getting out was impossible. The compound was for the most powerful; both guarding it and being kept inside it.

But he didn't want her to be here.

He knew she was going to die here. There was no other outcome left to her. He knew she would not bend to any of Orochimaru's treatments, no matter how painful and torturous. He could not see her bending, and knew she would not break.

Which left only death. Without escape, and with her will, the only thing left for her was death.

That's when he felt a thump against the door.

He didn't hear anything, but he felt something hitting the door. It made him blink, and look at the door, while his brain worked to figure out and understand what was happening.

Loor was beating on the door. Because of the justu there was no sound, but the door was still being hit by her fist. It still gave a little bit with each hit, shaking and wiggling with each shock. He put his hand to the door, feeling the ferocity of the blows, and frowning.

She wanted out. So badly.

Again, he felt the urge to let her out, more so as the hits on the door died down. Eventually he got the feeling that she was just leaning on it.

He lifted a hand, balled his fist, and knocked on the door. On his side, he heard the noise, but also felt the vibration of the door.

He knocked twice and stopped.

Then, he felt two hits on the other side of the door.

He felt a twitch of a smile, despite the fact that he knew contact with prisoners was totally forbidden. He actually felt somewhat righteous, defying the command he had known his whole life. In that defiance he knocked again, as if to assure her she wasn't thinking things. Someone was trying to make contact with her, trying to comfort her.

As she knocked back, Rishu decided something.

She wasn't going to die.

He wouldn't allow it.

She saved him, nearly at the cost of her own life. It was time for him to do the same.

He reached down, to the bottom of the door, and pushed open the little flap at the bottom. He reached his hand through, palm up, open.

He smiled slightly as he felt another hand, her hand, seize his.

The smile vanished as he felt savage strength suddenly pull so hard he was sure his hand was going to be ripped free of his wrist. He was yanked down to the level of the flap, his arm fitting through up to the elbow. It was almost like she was trying to pull him in there with her.

He yelped, quietly, before gritting his teeth and yanking back. She was still weakened, so it was easy to pull free of her grasp.

Already on the level, he decided to nudge the flap open again. He didn't stick his hand through this time, but instead just looked through it into the inky blackness and the little square of light that was allowed into the room, partially dimmed by his head being in the way.

He almost jumped as her head landed on the floor to be in his view. How quickly she came down looked painful, but her gaze was clear. Her eyes, electric blue and sparking, were glaring at first. She must have suspected him of being one of Orochimaru's lackeys, trying to give her false hope, but the suspicion left her eyes when she saw him.

She saw his face, and her mouth came open. He saw her lips move, as if she had said his name, but he heard nothing.

He shook his head slightly, as if to let her know that he couldn't hear her. This made her face twist again, and she shifted to stick her face right up to the little hole, but it was too low and small for her to even fit her nose through without tilting her head to the floor. He knew that she was hoping to escape the sound barrier and speak to him, but it was useless. The holes in the doors were designed like the cells themselves; for ultimate imprisonment. When she realized this, she reached her hand out like he had reached his in.

He sighed, taking her hand and squeezing it. They made eye-contact again, and she smiled. She understood that she had an alley in this hellish place.

And with that, she had a chance to survive.

* * *

It had been hours since Loor had made contact with Rishu. She stayed against the door, and every now and then he'd knock on the door to remind her that she wasn't alone. She'd knock back to let him know she got the message, and then she was back to staring into the darkness.

She couldn't believe that he was here. Last time she'd seen Rishu was a year and a half ago, when he had come to her world, looking for her on Orochimaru's behalf to advance her curse mark to its second level. He had taken the mission as vengeance, since Rishu had originally blamed Loor for the death of his parents, two nin by the names of Isaki and Ryoshi. The two had died at Gaara's hands, having kidnapped and hidden both Loor and Lee and then impersonating them being intimate in front of Gaara to make him go insane right before the Chunnin finals.

Rishu had been told that Loor was responsible, and that he could make her pay by putting her through the apparent death that one had to suffer when advancing the curse mark. And that was the spirit he had come after her in, but in finding her and, in disguise, working his way into her confidence in order to get her alone, he posed the question to her about his situation.

The question of who was responsible. Was it her fault? Loor hadn't a clue about Isaki and Ryoshi's part in her kidnapping till after it happened. The event had been a few months old before she found out why she'd woken up by Konoha's outer walls on the morning of the chunnin finals.

Loor suggested another person was at fault. The leader.

Orochimaru. He was the one who sent them out to get killed, probably knowing that they would die and deciding to use them because he considered them expendable. The first rule of leadership was that everything was your fault, and to that end Loor showed Rishu that his vengeance was pointed in the wrong direction.

But even after that understanding was made, Rishu still had a mission. He eventually got her alone, and had brought her to her old home, to explain to her who he was, what he had blamed her for, how she had changed his mind, and why he was after her. The only reason Loor went along with it was that she knew Orochimaru would kill Rishu if he returned to his master unsuccessful.

Loor had never pondered what had happened to Rishu after he left the picture. At the time... she had just undergone the painful process of advancing the curse mark, leaving her just a little out of her mind. Not days after that she had returned to Konoha, and any thought of what had happened to Rishu after their encounter was never dwelt on.

But here she found him. Minding and managing this stinking prison. She could not imagine someone in high standing working this place, so she had to assume that Rishu had grown somewhat rebellious of his master.

That caused her to smile, despite her predicament. Another person on her side, hating Orochimaru in a place full of people who worshiped the ground he walked on, was another chance for escape.

And escape is what she hopped for. She had no hope of killing Orochimaru now. She was in a place crawling with his subordinates. Even if she somehow managed to get him alone, engage him in a fight, and kill him, she'd never get out alive.

Two years ago, that wouldn't have mattered, but that was then.

Now...

She frowned to herself. She wondered how Gaara was doing. She worried what would happen in another four weeks.

With the two weeks she had already spent, four more would equal two months.

The two month deadline. The line where Tsunade would assume herself and Fury dead. Gaara was sure to be notified, and she couldn't imagine what kind of effect it would have on him.

She tried to imagine though. She tried to think of what it would be like to get a letter telling her that he was dead. A simple message that said nothing more than Killed In Action, cut, dried, and leaving no room for questions. Would she cry? Would she scream? Would she run?

Of course she would. She'd run till her legs gave out. She'd go to the ends of the earth to find him, even if it was just a corpse to prove whether or not the message was real.

She wondered if he would do the same. She liked to think that he would try, but his duties as Kazekage would probably keep him from doing anything too reckless. Maybe he'd try to organize a joint mission with Konoha to come looking.

She shook her head, realizing that she was filling herself with false hope. There was no point in thinking about all of the things that could happen. She had to go on while assuming she was completely on her own.

It was the only way to survive this.

She felt another knock at the door. It was so strange to feel the knock but not hear it, but she reacted at once, knocking back.

This time, the flap came open. Water time. Loor had to avert her eyes from the source of light, too bright for her eyes at the moment, but she slowly adjusted as it was left open. She wasn't sure why, but looked down slowly to find out.

She saw that her water was there, yes. But there was more than that.

Rishu had pushed in food for her. An apple. Along with that was a small scrap of paper with a note on it.

She tilted the paper towards the light, taking several moments to read it. Thankfully, it was short and simple.

_Water is drugged. Saps chakra. Drink little, less effect. Drop the apple core in the sewer._

She leaned her head down, seeing Rishu on the other side. She smiled and nodded, giving him a thumbs up before pushing the note back at him, knowing she couldn't keep it. She could dump it down the sewer as well, but she trusted he could dispose of it too.

A second later he left her in the dark again, but he had already proved himself the best ally she could possibly have.

He was able to give her food, and was able to tell her that the water was drugged. No wonder they gave the prisoners so much of it. It had to be something like the drug Tsunade used on Jiraiya back when they had first come looking for her in Tanzaku city. She wouldn't be surprised to find that Kabuto had duplicated the formula.

She bit into the apple, chewing it down to the core till there was nothing left but the seeds and the stem, tossing the remains into the sewer and then taking the water. She didn't drink the whole thing, only taking two swallows and putting it back by the door, leaning on it again and shutting her eyes.

The little deprivation tank was still a hell hole, but she felt like she had a chance.

* * *

Fury was sick.

She, like Loor, had ended up in a little cell all her own within the prison block. And, like her sister, had been in that disgusting tank for two weeks. Unlike Loor, her torment had been furthered from being alone, hungry, and cold. About a week in she had become feverish. She had blamed it on the constant darkness making her dizzy and disoriented, and the cold stone floor making her body ache, but when she started throwing up when there was nothing in her stomach but water it became clear that she'd picked up a bug; probably from the open sewer.

In the days after that she forgot about the cold of her cell, her body spiking a fever. Soon after that her muscles came to cramp up so painfully she didn't bother to drag herself to the drain to vomit when the urge came, which was often. Her throat burned, her nose clogged, and her eyes turned dry and itchy, but the worst was still yet to come.

When those horrible two weeks were almost over, it all stopped. She no longer burned, pained, or felt nauseous.

It was much worse. Instead, she felt nothing. No sensation of the floor, no smell of the room, not even the feeling of her own breath passing in and out of her lungs.

At first she thought she was dead.

Had she been in that cell for even another hour, she very well could have been.

But instead the cell had been opened, and she had been found; lying in a puddle of her own watery bile, treading the line of life and death.

When Fury came around, the first thing she noticed was that she was damp. It wasn't the cold, stabbing damp of the cell she had been locked in. Instead, it felt much the same as it did coming out of a hot bath.

The second thing she noticed was that she didn't feel the cold, hard floor under her. That prodded her into waking up, taking another step into the living world to feel the fact that she was on a bed with a raised portion, like a lounge chair, or a hospital bed set up into a reclined position.

A moment later, she heard something. This scared her, as she had not heard a single noise since she had gone into that strange cell. Still, she heard a persistent and steady beeping to her side. As she took notice of it, she heard it accelerating slightly, beeping a little faster and then holding steady.

It sounded like a heart monitor.

Finally, she had to attempt her eyes.

She found herself in a small, simple, clean, room. It turned out that she was right about the hospital bed; she was laying in one. She was also right about the heart monitor. It was to her side, starting to slow down as she took a few deep, calming breaths.

She was out of the cell and in a hospital room. The place was strangely dim for a hospital room, but obviously for medical use.

Had she been rescued? She kept breathing to keep calm, knowing that most heart monitors, at least the ones she knew at home, put up an alarm when a person's heart went too fast or too slow. She glanced about the room to find she was hooked up to an IV on her right, the heart monitor on her left, and a door at the other end of the room on the right wall.

Finally, she noted that this room didn't have any windows.

Was she underground? Most hospital rooms had windows.

A moment later, someone opened the door.

What Fury saw next made both a world of sense and no sense at all.

Kabuto came into the room.

In that one moment, memories flooded back into Fury's mind of how she had ended up alone in a prison cell in the first place. Orochimaru and Kabuto had captured her and Loor. Both had been hit over the head and brought in while unconscious.

But why was Kabuto here in a hospital room where she was being treated for whatever bug she'd picked up in the prison?

Was this all just a fevered dream before it all ended? Was she still lying in that cell, dying?

"You're awake." He said with a smile. "It's been a long time, Fury."

She blinked at him several times. There was another reason her mind was tripping, and it wasn't because of the drugs that were probably in the IV attached to her right arm.

That last time she had seen Kabuto, actually seen him in the flesh, was back in Konoha when she thought he was a good guy. When he vanished he had sent her letters, telling her that everything was okay while flirting with her. Fury had actually become rather attached to Kabuto before she found out he was one of the bad guys.

But she had never seen him do anything wrong. It was simply Loor's word that Fury had, telling her that Kabuto was evil.

Seeing him now, in his big and somewhat nerdy glasses, and a nostalgic smile on his face, she couldn't see this man at Orochimaru's side.

"You can talk." He said while walking up to her bedside. "You're out of the sound block. That's only in the prison cells."

She blinked again, and then whimpered. "What's going on?"

"A small mistake that almost turned into a very big problem." He said while pulling a small vial out of a pocket, along with a syringe. She watched as he drew liquid out of the vial before grabbing an input into the IV bag and injecting it into the solution. "I forgot about your weak immune system... I had protested your imprisonment in the first place, but if I had remembered that detail I could have kept you out of there."

She blinked at him. "Kabuto... where am I?"

He looked over at her, and sighed, shaking his head. "Did I hit you that hard?"

"No. I remember what happened at the teahouse... but..." She bit her lip. "I didn't want to believe it."

"Might as well." He snipped. "And come to terms with it was quickly as you can. All that little bug did was buy you time."

"Time for what?"

"To figure out what you're going to do." He said simply, putting the medicine he had put into the IV bag back into his pocket. After a hesitation, an unsure look on his face, he spoke again with a less business-like voice. For a moment he softened, into the Kabuto Fury felt she knew. "Fury... you've been captured. You, and your sister, are prisoners. But Orochimaru-sama has use for you both. And you will be treated fairly, but only if you cooperate."

"So... I have to choose whether or not to work for him?" She sounded disgusted, despite how weak her voice was. "I'd rather drink poison."

"That could be arranged..." He muttered before shaking his head. "It's not quite that bad though. You... you remember the mark on your neck?"

She stared at him, and then nodded slightly. Not a day went by that she didn't think about it. It was like a festering itch that never went away, but both she and Loor had learned to live with it.

"_I_ marked you. Technically, you're mine. Orochimaru planned to leave you in my service, exclusively. He will still confront you with the choice of working or spending the rest of your life in the cell, but you'll be taking your orders from me."

"And what kind of orders would I get from you?" She asked, her voice having gone cold. It was official; Kabuto was on the wrong side of this fence. He looked like a friend, but Fury had finally filed him as a foe.

"Whatever I need done that's within your skill level... I would also take charge of your training."

She stared at him, and then looked down at her toes. She would like to think of herself as a strong, resilient shinobi, but the thought of going back into that dirty, cold cell made her want to rip out her own heart. The darkness had been more than enough, and it had already been proven that she could very well lose her life if she went back.

She wouldn't go back to the dark. She knew she couldn't take it.

"Just don't ask me to kill anyone." She finally said, nearly whispering.

She then closed her eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek.

She would surrender, and survive.

And then she would escape.

* * *

HOLY HELLO I'M BACK!!

Hehe... hi.

Three in this set, so lets get moving before I'm late for school.

**No ownage.**

-Loor


	38. Counting

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Eight- Counting**

"Rishu? Are you well?"

Rishu had an offensive and sarcastic reply upon his lips, but knew better than to utter it. It was Kabuto who asked this question, and he asked it with good intention. Still, Rishu had a particular ire for the young medicine man that would not leave his mind whenever Kabuto decided to pop in and check on him.

In his mind, Rishu blamed Kabuto in part for bringing the sisters here. Both to the compound, and to the prison. Orochimaru took most of his anger, and Sasuke not so much since he was on a short leash with the master, but Kabuto was of a particular evil in Rishu's mind.

"How is Fury?" Rishu asked, dodging the question.

"Her recovery goes well." Kabuto sighed, coming down the stairs to the main floor of the prison. Rishu was sitting on his mat. "It was... very close. A few more hours and we could have lost her. It was a fairly simple illness, probably something in the sewers... with her weak immunities..." He trailed off, and shook his head, pushing up his glasses. "She's been kept under for the last three days, since we took her out. I did speak with her the other evening, when she came loose of the drugs. She agreed to behave."

"So fear prevails." Rishu muttered, seeming irritated.

"Survival." Kabuto corrected. "She knows she could die, much more easily than others, if she were brought back here."

"Did you discuss with Orochimaru? You knew, didn't you?" Rishu turned his gaze, finally, upon Kabuto. He hadn't been looking at him till now, for when their eyes met Rishu could not hide his distaste with the man. "You know many things about her. You could have saved her from this."

"I... had forgotten." Kabuto frowned. "I only thought of it after she had gotten sick. She _did_ tell me. It was just so long ago." He shook his head. "Still, I fear that would not have kept her out of the prison. In fact... Orochimaru would probably feel that the method is that much more effective."

"He's sick."

"I will not argue with you. But on that note, Rishu, you look rather sickly yourself. Let us get back to my original question...." Kabuto knelt to get on Rishu's level. "Are you well?"

Rishu looked away from Kabuto, aware that he did not look healthy. He spent most of his time sitting, and his complexion had turned more pallid than usual. He wasn't feverish, or displaying other tell-tale signs of illness, but Kabuto had the feeling it was just fatigue. Rishu had not been sleeping much since the girls had arrived.

"You care too much." Rishu muttered, sighing. "Do not worry about me."

"I am a doctor, essentially, Rishu." Kabuto said evenly. "It's my job to care when someone seems unwell. You haven't been sleeping enough, but you seem a little weaker than that..." He seized the younger boy by the shoulder. "Please stand. I'll help you up."

Rishu glanced at Kabuto at first, but knew what not complying would mean.

Slowly, with Kabuto tugging his shoulder, Rishu came to his feet. Kabuto, still holding him, could feel the boy was unsteady. A glance down told him that Rishu's hands were shaking slightly.

"Fatigue and malnutrition." The elder concluded lightly. "But all your dishes have come back empty. Are we not feeding you enough? You're getting your proper ration for your age and weight."

Rishu shrugged slightly. "I eat all I'm given, and I am not dying. That is good enough."

"Perhaps it is good enough... but I do not think _you_ are eating it all."

Rishu blinked, glancing away again.

Kabuto smirked, easing the boy down, gently. "You care far more than I do, Rishu. But remember to never deceive the deceiver. I do believe Loor told me this once... We can always see our own kind. We all make a face, or twitch an eye, or express something with our bodies. Some can hide it, but not from our own."

"You..." Rishu seemed fearful. "What are you going to do?"

"Me?" He smiled softly at Rishu as he turned to leave, waving a hand over his shoulder. "I'll put in an order to have some vitamin pills added to your tray. It's always so hard to keep up with growing teens, no?"

"Helping a dreamer, Kabuto? That's not your type... what's your angle?"

The elder of the two, about to mount the stairs, paused for a moment. "Fury is near dead. Seeing her like this... it hurts. If she loses her sister, I fear her body will shrivel with her soul. One cannot survive without hope that the other may live. Not now. They are dreamers; children. If one is lost, the other will follow as soon as she learns. If it is the dreamer's disease that saves them, I will allow it to run rampant."

"The dreamer's disease?" Rishu questioned. "You wish to view us as ill?"

"Yes. And myself, infected."

* * *

Loor had taken to counting days again.

There was nothing better to do in the dark little room she'd found herself trapped in. With nothing to see, she had nothing for her imagination to work with. Without the ability to hear, her thoughts lost their verbal shapes. Most everything that passed her brain was in the form of an emotion, emotions she no longer had words to describe. Still, she knew numbers. If she did not know words, she still knew what three fingers looked like in the short flashes of light that brought her blessed food and cursed water.

And so it was two days back in the dark prison. Three. Four.

The pain in her stomach told her she still wasn't eating enough. She dare not stand for more than a moment, lest she fall over. Rationing the water she drank also took a toll on her. She could feel her chakra again, which was a welcome sensation, but it was not enough to do something useful. She tried to go a day without water, but it was impossible. The weakness that came from no water was ten times worse than that from little food, and dehydrating herself made the hunger pangs even worse. Building her chakra was not worth it.

Yet.

Five. Six. Seven.

At the end of the first week she had decided to do any exercise she could while staying close to the floor. It passed the time, and made her feel slightly less pathetic. She would do push-ups till she crashed into the cold stone floor, sit-ups till her abdominal muscles felt like they'd rip apart. She's often open her mouth to cry out, and though she felt the flow of air and the pain in her throat from making such violent sounds, there was no noise. Often she would push herself till she had nothing left, lying on the floor and dragging herself about till she found the door again to wait for food.

And food would come, once a day. It was always small. An apple, a piece of bread, a snatch of cold meat that looked like it came off of a sandwich. She didn't realize that Rishu was rotating what he fed her to try and keep up with food-group recommendations, just that she was getting fed. Whatever she got she would scarf down in seconds, lick her fingers, an wash down with perhaps a swallow or two of the poisoned water.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

Loor stopped her work outs when she pushed it too hard and ended up vomiting up the precious contents of her stomach. Sweating and sick, she searched for anything else to pass the time that crawled by. Sleep was no refuge, as she had terrible nightmares of what might be happening to her sister. There were no images in her brain, no words to think about, and only primitive feelings that made her want to gnaw on the wooden door every now and then.

Eventually she took to the walls, being able to feel the seams between the stones that made up her prison. With only her sense of touch, she began to count the stones that made up the walls of her prison. She'd do it in columns, staring by the door, counting them as far as she could reach up, and then slowly coming back down. She often lost count, and now and then lulled herself to sleep with the repetitive activity.

Eleven. Twelve.

She knew she was heading downhill since she re-entered the prison. She wondered if that was the point of getting fed while she was outside- so she could feel herself sinking back into starvation and insanity. What little she was handed from the other side of the door was simply little stop-gaps that slowed her fall into death.

And water! Oh how she wished for water. Her resistance had all but left her, for when she got water she chugged half of it before she gained control again, reminding herself of the drugs that lurked in the life-giving substance. Often she would violently throw the bottle across the room to stop herself, crawling over and finding it drained later on, putting it back by the door after, knowing that was the only way she'd ever get more.

Thirteen.

Loor began to think that perhaps no food was better than the little nibbles she was getting. When she had been straight out starved, she knew nothing was coming, and eventually became contented with the pain. She knew she was dying before, and had mostly accepted it.

Now, she had hope. The little scraps that came through the bright portal of the door brought her hope that she might get out, hope of a better day, hope that she wouldn't die in this dark little hole.

And that hope, she felt, was killing her. Crushing her. No longer uplifting; it was a burden.

But still she ate. Ravenously and desperately, she ate, drank, and slept.

Fourteen.

Panic seized her at the end of the second week when nothing came through the door. When more time passed than she wanted to without light, without that snatch of food, without the cursed water to at least wet her lips with she was sure that she was finally going to die.

She curled in the corner, rocking slightly, not bothering with the tiresome activity of counting bricks. She held her arms, tugged on the sleeves of her robe, chewing lightly on her lower lip.

Then... humming.

She almost didn't notice as she heard her own whimpering hum, her ears starting to function once more. At first, just like last time, it shocked and spooked her.

Then, in a rush of horrible memory, she ducked her head into her arms while closing her eyes, knowing what was coming next. With sound would come light, and with light would come the object of her hate. The source of her torment.

Through that blinding portal would come Orochimaru.

And he did come. He himself would not enter the cell, directing two lackeys to bring her out.

She opened her eyes after several moments, slowly, as far as she felt was safe till she adjusted. He waited for her to look at him, and it was quite some time before she could.

Once she did, and saw his smirking face, she hawked back and spat at his feet.

He chuckled at her. "I see you've survived. Bravo."

She growled at him, glancing to the left and right to see that she had one shinobi on either arm, holding her at the elbow and shoulder to isolate the major muscles and keep her from throwing her weight around; what little was left of it. Still, they didn't hold her with a lot of strength. They must have expected her to be nearly dead.

But this wasn't quite like last time. She was able to keep her feet, for the most part. Her brain could identify friend and foe, and she was surrounded. In that, she felt the rising instinct to attack.

She didn't though. Instead, she let her knees go soft. The two at her shoulders at once took up the slack, picking her slightly up off the floor so her toes drug on the ground but she didn't have to support herself.

She let her head hang, panting. "What... why do you even bother...?"

"Your sister lives, you know." He informed her, turning and walking. She was brought along, though she rested her eyes at the moment. She knew what the halls looked like. She imagined she was being brought to the same place she'd ended up in the last time she was taken out; Orochimaru's quarters. "She's in Kabuto's service now, not that it's a very dangerous thing. He's teaching her his art, of making medicine. He takes her to collect ingredients and has her take care of our injured."

She lifted her head slightly, though she let it drop again, as if it were too much effort.

That's when her nose started talking to her. Outside of her cell, the air smelt sweet compared to the smell that wafted out of the open sewer, but something amazing had just wormed its way past her nose.

The smell of food. Hot food. Not cold simplicities that got passed into her cell; the smell of something that had been cooked.

She opened her eyes when she heard a door opening and closing and the smell grew even more amazing. It was like going to a buffet worth of a five-star rating. Her abused stomach made a loud noise as her brain became completely focused on finding out whatever the smell was.

When she opened her eyes, she found that she'd been brought to a community eating hall. Or, better put, a cafeteria.

And here, she saw at least a hundred shinobi seated at long tables, stuffing their faces. She felt rabid, angry, and faintly sick. As she looked to Orochimaru, she got the feeling that she wasn't going to be allowed to sit and do the same. No, this was another example of what she was depriving herself of.

All she had to do was submit to him, and she would be allowed to eat, probably given a good place to sleep, and perhaps even per diem.

He smirked at her, confirming her suspicions.

"I am running low on kindness, Loor." He said, and despite the noise of people in the room, his voice cut right through. "I fed you last time, but if you refuse me again I will be forced to send you back to starve. If you somehow manage to survive... You will be snuffed out. Don't doubt me when I tell you this is your last chance. Join me, or I will let you waste away in that little cell."

She felt smoldering anger that she was sure showed on her face as she stared at him, growling and putting her feet flat on the floor again. In a split second she realized she was against a wall, as they had just come in through a door. There had to be a wall behind her. She slid one heel back till she found it, still holding his gaze.

She couldn't think anymore. In a sudden movement she put both feet to the wall and kicked off, getting away from the two guards who had been holding her. They lost their grip on her thanks to their underestimation of her current strength. She turned on them at once, ducking down low under them as they both aimed to strike her, gathering chakra in a sudden plan to get them out of the way and get to their master.

With a quick hand sign and slamming her hand to the floor, she turned to see the guards were incoming again, reaching to grab her, assuming that she'd fallen to the floor out of weakness.

She hopped back, grabbing their wrists and pulling them both to the section of floor she had slammed her hand against.

She then jumped over them to get to their master.

Orochimaru looked only mildly surprised that she had not only broke away from his lackeys but immobilized them as well by using one of her own jutsu, known at the sticky jutsu, to stick them to the floor. He didn't seem too shocked that she had both the chakra and strength to do so, nor fearful that she was now flying through the air at him with a look on her face so beastly she might've been a wolf, about to rip out his throat with her bare teeth.

He side-stepped her lunge, catching one shoulder and then slipping his other arm under the other shoulder, soon securing her and turning her to look back out at the long tables of shinobi who had been enjoying a meal.

She suddenly realized her true stupidity, as all of them had stopped eating and drawn weapons of every type, staring at their master and the starved prisoner.

Orochimaru laughed. "At ease. I can handle her."

Like trained dogs, all of those present turned back to their food, ignoring Loor as she spat and struggled; weak as a kitten now that she had spent what little energy she had.

"How can you hope for escape?" He asked while still holding her. "You are within my fortress, my territory, full of people so fiercely loyal to me that they would kill themselves if I so ordered it. Aren't you curious of how these people exist? Don't you want to live long enough to understand it all?"

"You can't appeal to me!!" She spat, still desperately pulling, tears forming in her eyes as her muscles screamed for her to stop. "I will not... cannot... obey...!"

"You can." He then turned her slightly, looking in the direction of the two guards who were trying to pull themselves off of the floor to find themselves stuck as if nailed there. "And you bring some very interesting skills to the table... things others might not think of."

She didn't reply in words, letting off an agonized bellow.

"Child..." He murmured. "You must learn..." He then let her go. She tripped forward, turning towards him and throwing a punch that he caught as easily as if she were not more than a toddler. He always kept that smirk, pushing her back again so she tripped over the two shinobi she had left on the floor.

She laid there for a moment, panting, before sitting up and slowly getting to her knees, then her feet. She slowly noted that several people were still watching, making sure that she wasn't a threat, despite being starved and half sane.

He crossed his arms over his chest, nodding to the two on the floor. "Care to release them?"

"Why should I?" She spat, leaning on the nearby wall. "I... It doesn't last very long... depending on how much power goes into it. You should know how little I'm running on, seeing as you poisoned the water."

"And you avoided drinking it, thinking you could seize a chance to get away. But I brought you here for a reason more than torturing you with the thought of food. These people are a fraction of my active agents, Loor. I want you to realize that escape is impossible. And so is rescue. There is not a single village that has our location on a map, not even Otogure itself. We are a ghost village; invisible."

"We found it!" She huffed, falling back to her knees. She couldn't take being on her feet anymore. "Fury and I... we did... we made it..."

"And you will never make it back." He stated. "You will either live or die here. Fury has made her choice, and I expect you to do so as well."

"Never..." She whimpered, still leaning on the wall. Her vision was going. She had pushed too far. She panted, feeling like there wasn't enough air in the room. "I can't..."

He shook his head, stepping over the two shinobi that were still stuck to the floor, kneeling in front of her and grabbing her chin.

"You do not know enough." He chided. "Learn to value your life."

She blinked at him, her eyes unfocused. She was practically blind.

She dropped to the floor, gone again.

* * *

Ah... we all love our friend Orochimaru, don't we?

Yes, yes we do.

**Still don't own it.**

-Loor


	39. Death

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Thirty Nine- Death**

Fear.

It was the thing to ponder, wasn't it? What was it, to be afraid? To have fear? What caused fear, or what did fear cause? Did it run in circles, or lay straight? Was it a friend, or a foe? Did it make things clear, or cloud the mind? How did fear bloom, fade, and wither within people?

What was fear?

Apprehension, perhaps? Discomfort? If one went to the natural fear of death, it could be a simple uneasiness taken too far, coming from the unknown, and at the same time, the cold hard facts of once dead, always dead.

_But I am not dead._

The pondering goes on. If it is knowledge, or the lack there of, that causes fear, what snuffs it out? What rids a person of it, and makes them desolate of it? Damned if you know, damned if you don't, how is one to be free of fear? Experience? Understanding?

Nothing can break free of the need to survive. The instinct to live. But that instinct is not fear, it is simply a reflex enforced by the fear of death.

But the fear. How does one lose the fear?

Maybe one doesn't. Maybe... it's just muted. Hushed up, for things more important.

_There are things more important than my life._

But what is the worth of a life? Where is the line that must be drawn, when the right course of action, despite fear, is death?

What is a life worth? Is one life worth another, or is it the worth it has to other lives? Are lives made important by those they've touched, or worthless by those they've hurt? Or are they all equal in the grand scheme of things?

_I would rather die than be made a murderer to survive. _

"I fear death would make you a murderer as well."

Loor had not woken back in her little cell, like she had expected. She had been anticipating, almost hoping, for the darkness. The darkness was something she had already learned, come to understand and handle. That little room was almost a comfort, for she was alive and still neutral. Still drawing breath, and being of no assistance to her captors. It was an existence she could live with, even if it would have slowly driven her into insanity.

At least she would have died cleanly.

_It's not suicide to starve to death when someone else is starving you._

Instead, she found herself in a not wholly but significantly different room. No longer within the pitch black, she was in a dimly lit room. It was still part of the prison, she knew, because of how she had woken.

She came around to find she was standing up. Her muscles, mostly those in her shoulders, ached horribly from supporting her weight. Her toes were barely on the floor, just enough to touch and adsorb the cold from the stones, but also little enough so she could not take the weight off of her shoulders. She was strung up by her wrists, supposedly to the ceiling. She didn't know because she hadn't the strength nor care to lift her head.

She didn't know how long she'd been there, but she knew that she had not been fed nor watered. Her mouth was like sandpaper, and her stomach was a painful void that threatened to rip her thin-stretched middle in two.

"It isn't suicide I'm talking about."

Loor's eyes, made dull by her condition, tracked over to the corner. She could only see one from where she was hung, and in that corner was a sight she had not expected to see upon her waking.

In all of her time in the prison, Loor's senses had been deprived. Her ears, and her eyes. Taken from her. Sadly, those were the main two senses Lyra utilized while speaking with her host. Now, here, in this room, those senses were left alone.

And Lyra had made herself present, starting at Loor intently.

Loor huffed at the beast, closing her eyes to rest them.

_I have no choice._

"No choice?" Lyra growled. Loor could sense her getting to her feet, crawling on all fours to sit again, in front of Loor, her voice sounding both angry and earnest. "Do you even understand what you're doing? You're not just killing yourself here."

Loor did not react, hanging as if dead. Her hands were long asleep, along with everything else above her head. It felt like the muscles from her shoulders to the base of her spine were all being ripped upwards, slowly teased by an ever-tightening winch. Her nose, having smelt nothing but the sewers for most of that last four horrible weeks of her life, now detected something even more offensive.

The rotting dead.

She was not alone in this chamber. Or, perhaps by the definition of live company, she was alone.

Lyra didn't count.

"You don't even realize what your life is worth." Lyra snorted, getting up and pacing around her host, her tail brushing past Loor's face or knees now and then. The silky softness of her fur had a strange texture to it, something that conveyed Lyra's frustration. "If you die, do you have any idea how many lives you would affect?!"

_If I don't, can you imagine how many more I might ruin?_

"They're strangers! I doubt that snake is dumb enough to send you after anyone you know! Their lives don't matter! Yours does!"

_What makes my life so worthwhile? Just because it's connected to yours?_

"Damn right!" Lyra roared, slamming a hand on the floor. Loor felt the room shake slightly, though she knew it was only imagined sensations. Her mind, shattered as it was, was quite open to Lyra's influences and images. "I like living! I like seeing things, feeling things, talking to you, even! And you tell me you'd rather die than live to see another day just because that slimy jerk wants your help?"

_You'd rather see another day, and help him? You want me to kill in his name? Murder for his empire? Bow to his control?_

"Hell no!" She snapped. "But I sure as fuck don't wanna die! There could be a way out, Loor! A way to escape, to get away. You'd die, and throw away any chance of seeing Gaara again? Or Fury?"

_Don't try to pull my strings. You know I've already thought of them._

"Not enough, obviously. Gaara will never be able to live with this. He's going to hear that you're dead, and coming running to the rescue. And Fury... she'd crumble over this."

_Fury would likely never know... she's already agreed to service. They'll tell her anything to keep her functional. By the time she finds out, she'll already be brainwashed. It's what's he's doing here. Breaking down to the foundations of the human mind, giving no alternative way to live. Then it's the only way to live. Then it's the right way to live. Then it's the **good** way to live. Its why they worship him. _

"And you fear you'd fall?"

Loor's head suddenly snapped up, here eyes wide open and blazing with sudden passion. "I fear nothing!!" She sputtered, spitting slightly and panting. She strained forward, as if she meant to bite Lyra, against her bonds. Sadly, with nothing but her toes on the floor to pitch forward on, she hardly shifted a few inches. She coughed slightly, blinking as her eyes tried to produce tears but could not. "I... I can't... I must rationalize..."

"Rationalize all you want, but remember I _am_ your primal urges. Your instinctive needs and wants. You have no idea what lies after death, and I know deep down you'd rather not find out. And I sure as hell don't want to find out. I have no spirit. I was a figment of your mind, manufactured into a living creature by a mass of chakra. There is nothing beyond this for me."

Loor mumbled something, but then went back to her silence. It mainly came out of the worry that she was being watched.

The last person she wanted to know about Lyra was Orochimaru.

"You like living. You like eating, sleeping, sensations, even sex despite your limited experience in the field! You love life, love puzzling over it. Why die so premature just because you're stubborn?"

_Because... I puzzled. And my puzzling told me I may end lives much younger than mine if I take service. Orochimaru might choose to test me in some manner by making me do something I earnestly don't want to do, like killing children or burning down a village that annoyed him. I cannot do these things, risk these things. _

"But what if nothing is what waits for you after death, as it awaits me?"

_Then nothing is what I will meet. I will not selfishly save my own life when others are at risk._

"There is no one at risk! They're ghosts of maybe that you're making up to keep yourself afraid!"

Loor heard a heavy door open, squeaking on it's hinges. She turned her head slightly to try and see, but it was behind her, and by the time she looked back forward Lyra had vanished. She felt horribly alone, and wondered how long she'd been hanging like this. She felt like a side of beef hanging on a meat hook.

Thats when she was jostled, whatever was holding her up swinging slightly before she was suddenly let down. She first thought she had been cut down, but she soon realized she was still held up, having attempted to sink to her knees but still two inches away from properly sitting on the ground. Still, the sudden motion sparked enough of her curiosity to look up.

Above her, she saw her hands. They were tied together at the wrist, lashed to a wooden pole, and further tied around a rope from the ceiling that also looped around the rope. She blinked at this set up, and then came to understand why she'd been lowered.

She was near the corner, at the end of the pole. The only way the pole would have held even is if there was weight on the other side. That weight, another person, must have been removed.

She tried to look over, but it was too dark to see the other side of the room.

Bodies were being removed. She had been sharing a pole with a corpse.

But bodies didn't move on their own... usually. She licked her lips, though it had little effect, and strained to turn her body towards where she heard the door. It hadn't opened again. Was the person still in here?

"Hello?"

"Sh!" She was ordered at once. "I'll see to you in a moment."

She groaned, resting her head back and sighing. That was Rishu's voice. Of course, he managed the prison, probably alone. His only friends were the dying.

Loor yelped when the pole moved again, getting shaken as Rishu probably attached another helpless person. She didn't protest beyond that one startled noise, knowing he had no choice. It was the cold reality of his life.

A moment later, he came into view. It was the first time in two years that she'd seen him; all of him, not just his face through that little slot. Still, he hadn't changed much.

But she didn't take much time to ponder how he'd grown, first noting something of interest.

Rishu looked as if he was about to cry.

"... how long..?" Loor managed, already in pain again and weaker than ever.

"A few days." He answered, hushed.

She nodded before her next question. "... how much longer?"

He shook his head, closing his eyes. "No longer."

"Hm...?" She pitched forward again on her frozen toes.

He took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. "The master doesn't want to wait any longer. No one changes their mind past this point."

Loor yelped again as Rishu took a step back and suddenly whipped out one of his twin katanas, slicing her off of the pole. She fell to the floor, having no strength to stop herself, and no more strength beyond that to pick herself up.

She was surprised to be lifted back up by several sets of hands. Rishu had company with him. More goons, she suspected with what little brain power she had left.

"He will see you once more, and if you are not agreeable..." She heard a sob catch in his throat. "I will execute you."

Loor's world turned blurry as she was moved. She hardly had the strength to stay conscious, much less concentrate on what was going on around her. Eventually she resigned to simply closing her eyes and letting herself be carried. Her hands were still bound, so she had nothing to do but go along for the ride.

There were hallways, and Rishu's soft sobbing as he brought up the rear of the group. It stopped after a while, and then all she could understand were the sounds of feet. She tried to count the footfalls, and the hands she felt, to guess how many people were ferrying her in a near-prone position, but she could not isolate one sound or one sensation from another. It all bled together, like watercolors.

Then there was a door. Another one of those sliding doors. It shifted aside, and the sounds of the footfalls changed. In the hall, a closed space, they were short sounds. This new space was big, and the steps echoed. She tried to guess how big, but when she was let to the ground she assumed it was a good time to open her eyes.

She was on the floor in a monstrous space. It reminded her of a school gym, though she hadn't been in one for more than a year. Noise echoed in the same manner, and it was of similar dimensions. As she rolled to her stomach, getting to her knees to sit up, she swooned both at the large empty space and a sudden light-headedness she experienced. Like the rest of the place, or what she had seen, it was minimally lit and generally undecorated. At one end was the door she'd come in by, and at the other end, which was hardly a yard away from her, was the last person she wanted to see.

Orochimaru, seated in something of a simple throne, with Kabuto at his right hand side and Sasuke to his left.

Loor expected Orochimaru to open his mouth and try to charm her with his serpentine tongue, but she blinked as Kabuto approached her, kneeling to her level and speaking softly.

"Loor... there are no second chances beyond this. You've convinced him that his conventional methods won't work. Either agree now, or he'll kill you."

She growled at him, not speaking to him, simply staring up under her furrowed brow.

Within her dim eyes, a spark shown. Isolated, starved, and tortured without even having a hostile finger lain upon her body, she still managed to look up at him with her fighting spirit intact. In fact, despite the fact that she hadn't the strength to attack him, that gleam in her eye was enough to intimidate him and make him slowly get up and back off, returning to his master's side.

At this display, Orochimaru laughed.

Loor's attention changed from Kabuto to his master, locking eyes with him and attempting her feet. She struggled, slowly, to get up from her knees. She made it most of the way up, but upon raising her head she was overcome with weakness and fell back to the floor, crying out softly. Still, throughout this display, she did not lose eye contact.

He smirked at her, rising from his chair and stepping down. He didn't deny her laser-like gaze, seeming rather entertained that she made such effort to stay engaged. He stopped right in front of her, and clasped his hands behind his back.

She growled as he shook his head at her, seeming disappointed. "Tsk, tsk, Little Loor." He lamented, using what seemed to be a nickname for her that he was growing fond of. "You simply are too dedicated to yourself... so many others would have given in by now, lived in shame, so that they would live. But you have a particular reliance to be true to nothing but yourself. Admirable, perhaps, but entirely annoying."

She snarled at him like a wild beast, throwing herself forward with full intent to bite at whatever she could get. He easily moved aside, finally getting away from her fierce eyes and walking around her in a slow circle, giving her about a two foot berth.

"I used to find this quality of yours... entertaining. Do you know why its come to annoy me? Because despite being in solitary confinement in one of the deprivation cells... you were being fed."

She heard a gasp that had to be Rishu. Orochimaru had known all along.

"Despite the fact that you were to be as alone as could be, you had still managed to rally someone to your side. This quality of yours, your need to be true to nothing but yourself, either repulses people or makes them worship the very ground you walk on. Rishu had but a taste of your silly doctrine when he first met you, and he's been changed for life. Gone is the obedient shinobi; he's suddenly thinking for himself..."

She sensed he had come full circle and looked up, seeing that Orochimaru was now coming down to her level, grabbing her chin and making her look up.

"You can't agree to service anymore, Little Loor. It's always sad when one of my favorites turns out to be... _defective,_ but you have nothing but sheer determination going for you. If you were like Sasuke, with a Kekkei Genkai, I might consider keeping you, but as you are... if I released you among the ranks, you're likely to rally them all into a rebellion. Do you understand?"

She noted the slight frown on his face, like a parent with a troubled child.

"You've become more trouble than you're worth. You refused to die as fast as the others usually do, and I've grown quite sick of how strong you've become... I'd be quite pleased if you weren't so against me, but you've demonstrated enough to make yourself clear."

He stood up, looking up at Rishu before looking back down at her.

"You've left nothing to yourself but death."

Orochimaru sat back in his chair, and gestured to Rishu. Loor could sense everyone backing off, laying on the floor and heaving for breath.

She knew he was hesitating, but also knew there was no escape now.

This was the end.

She heard the ring of one of his katanas leaving its sheath, and actually leaned her head out from her shoulders. She prayed for a clean cut, right through the neck, to end it all. Simple, and to the point.

As a last act, she closed her eyes.

She heard the blade sing through the air, and a scream. In her detached psyche, she assumed it was her own. She assumed the cut had been so fast she hadn't even the time to feel it.

She had nothing left to assume, as she felt nothing but sinking darkness.

She would fall to the dark.

And her life would end.

* * *

Rishu was in shock. He stared at his blade, as if completely in denial of what had just happened. He couldn't believe it. There was no way for him to believe it, or understand it.

He looked on, to Kabuto and Sasuke. They too, stared at the scene with wide eyes. Even Sasuke had abandoned his cold demeanor to question if what just happened, actually happened. Kabuto's mouth was slightly open, as if disgusted.

Orochimaru, with a small smile on his face, began to clap. Only he seemed impressed with the scene before him, standing from his chair once more and breaking out into an even larger smile.

Rishu let go of his weapon, took three steps back, and fell on his rear, still staring.

"We all keep secrets..." Orochimaru muttered to himself, seeming truly impressed. "But I hadn't expected this twist."

Rishu's weapon clattered harmlessly to the floor; within a mound of sand. Sand that had, moments before, spawned out of the air and leapt up as a wall to protect Loor from the death blow. Rishu had screamed at the sudden apparition, but now crawled forward upon the floor to take some of the grains within his hand, to prove to himself that it was real.

Loor had been protected by a wall of sand... which then fell uselessly upon the ground, with his katana.

"How?" Sasuke finally asked.

"I've seen that before..." Kabuto muttered, still open-mouthed.

"We all have." Orochimaru was still smirking. "The Kazekage Gaara protects himself in such a manner... a demonic gift. Loor has hidden this well from me..." He bent, picking the girl up off of the floor as if she weighed nothing and slinging her over his shoulder.

He then looked back at Sasuke and Kabuto.

"But I do believe she has just proven her worth... I would be a fool to snuff her out now."

* * *

And this is where I leave you till next time!

Yeah, I know, I suck, don't I?

**I OWN NOTHING!!!**

See you next time punks.

-Loor


	40. Impressions

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Forty- Impressions**

… _am I dead?_

_**As good as.**_

… _I can't feel anything... but at the same time... shattered... where am I?_

_**Lost, child. Lost and gone with no way back.**_

_You... who are you?_

_**I am you. Part of you. The part of you that needs to live.**_

_Aren't I dead? I was going to die... I was about to be killed. I was sure I was gone._

_**You are. **_

_Then how are you alive?_

_**Shush child... you shall remain dead for as long as needed. I will keep you.**_

_But... am I...?_

_**Be still, and rest. You will not remember.**_

… _but... what's to remember...?_

_**Being dead.**_

* * *

Loor was alive, in the simple sense of the word. Orochimaru knew that she still drew breath, and that she'd spent some time within the medical labs to receive IV treatments to restore what was left of her body back to health. He knew that she was yet to wake from the slumber she'd slipped into after the sand had appeared, but he also knew that the most interesting part of this was yet to come.

Loor had hidden this, well enough that he hadn't known about it. That took some effort.

But this secret had been revealed. What would she do now? Was she killer with the sand, like Gaara was? Or was it nothing but a shield? He doubted her being hostile, as she'd been trying to kill him for too long to be keeping something like this hidden.

No... there had to be more to this than what was obvious.

And he had the inherent need to learn just what was there was to know.

At the time, he was returning to his quarters, where she had been moved for the time being. He expected her to come out of her stupor soon, as she'd been gone for a few hours. Of course she was being watched, in case she woke before he arrived. Goodness knows that if she were left alone, she'd make a break for it.

That determination...

He shook his head. Even he felt some admiration for the quality, but he had no place within his empire for leaders other than himself.

"Orochimaru-sama!"

The man looked up from his pondering when addressed, though the motion was somewhat lazy. He had arrived back at his own door, and without words he questioned the situation. The two guards at the door looked confused.

"She's awake... but she's barely moved. She's sat up and been staring at the wall, hasn't said a word."

Orochimaru felt a frown cross his face. Strange behavior for her personality. He gestured the two shinobi out of the way, opening the door himself and then turning to the two guards on the inside of the room, waving them out.

He then turned to see her.

As they said, she was awake and sitting up, staring at the wall opposite of the door.

Finally, after several moments, he greeted her.

"Evening."

"Is it?" She asked, not looking away from the wall. "You can't tell in here... there's no windows. There haven't been any. Are we underground?"

"Very perceptive." He commented, though he was sensing something was definitely off. Her tone was strange for someone who had nearly been starved to death and executed. Even with the IV treatments, he had expected her to be sickly and weak. Instead, her voice had a certain intangible tone of strength.

"Do you know how much chakra factors into muscle strength?" She asked offhandedly. It made him blink at her as she rose off of his bed without even so much of a wobble to her gait, turning and facing him while crossing her arms over her chest, leaning on the bedpost while smiling at him.

Something was very strange here.

"Enlighten me." He managed, keeping the surprise out of his voice.

"The chakra network runs through the entire body. Our muscles need chakra to function as much as they need oxygen from blood..." She inspected her hand, not endeavoring to keep eye contact like she usually would. "If you flood your body with chakra, you strengthen the muscles, even if they've been totally deprived of all nourishment... of course, it can't be kept up forever. Just till the body runs out. So I suppose there's a question in here somewhere..." She looked up at him again from under her down-tilted brow. "When are you going to feed me?"

"Who are you?" He batted back, not answering her question. He was positive that this could not be Loor. There was no transformation, but there was no way that this could be her. She was still hostile, but in an almost playful manner. She was totally relaxed, and completely in control... nothing like the girl he captured and tortured to the end of her rope.

"Me?" She pressed the hand she'd been inspecting to her chest, grinning at him. "Well, I wouldn't quite say 'who' more than 'what.' It's been a long time since I've taken control... and that was for such a short time. But anyway, allow me to explain this in terms you will understand; I am Loor's beast."

"Her demon?"

"Oh, no!" She laughed, shaking her head. "I wouldn't say that. Two years of growth and I'm hardly half of Shukaku's power, or the _Ichibi_, as you might know him. Really, I'm more of a mania turned demonic. But please, allow me to explain why I am here."

He could do nothing but watch as she left the bedpost, walking in a wide ring around him. None of this was computing, but he couldn't show that, simply watching her intently.

"Loor's mind has been shattered, thanks to you. She thinks she's dead. Currently, I'm willing to let her believe that. You see, she was ready to die rather than serve you. Me? I'm not going to like it, but I like living, so you do what you gotta do. Plus, like I said, she thinks she's dead. She's not exactly fighting me for control."

"So you have no problem with the work I would give you?" He questioned, almost too quickly, pouncing on the part of the conversation that he could comprehend.

"Problem?" She questioned. "What problem could _I_ have? Loor is the one concerned with morals and such. I won't be happy with it, and know that I will take _any_ chance you give me to get the hell out of here, but between life and death, life is the obvious answer."

"So, the sand was yours?"

"Too true." She smiled. "Loor doesn't like it when I protect her, but I warned her that I wouldn't let her be killed."

"So you could kill me the way Gaara kills." He noted.

"That I could," She nodded slightly, having come to his bed again within the circle she'd been walking, sitting on the end and grinning up at him. "But unfortunately I promised I wouldn't. Loor reserves the rights... though I promise _you_ this;" She suddenly dropped out of her strangely cheery mood, her eyes flashing a dangerous shade, her voice taking on a beastly growl. "If you keep me trapped here for more than a year, I will have to kill you, whether she likes it or not. I'm not staying."

Orochimaru, growing skeptical of the beast's personality, actually became somewhat sarcastic. "What, does she have a date next year that she can't miss?"

"You could call it that. Her big brother is coming back to Konoha in a year. I imagine she will want to see him before she moves on to Suna." She then grinned again. "So, I've agreed to do your bidding for some time, which was better than you were going to get from her. Now then, could I please get something to eat? I have no problem with raw food, or cannibalism, and some of those guards you left for me looked rather tasty... not to mention you'd probably taste just fine, skun and roasted like any other type of snake."

"I'm sure we can arrange something, as well as your own sleeping quarters." He said with a nod, slowly backing towards the door.

"Oh, please, I don't mind sharing." She giggled, setting her feet up and stretching out. "I think most would find me rather enjoyable as a roommate."

He didn't say anything to that, turning to open the door while trying to quell the confusion in his brain. What was this... this...?

"Lyra."

He glanced back at her.

"My name." She purred at him. "Lyra."

Orochimaru quickly let himself to the other side of the door, shutting it behind him and taking a deep breath. He wasn't scared, but surely somewhat intimidated. There was much to think about with this new development.

This beast, Lyra. She seemed to be the embodiment of Loor's survival instinct, but also strangely comfortable with the situation. She had dominated him before he had even entered the room, taken control, and shoved it in his face.

It was so strange, but there had to be an advantage to take from the new status quo.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru was once again shocked out of his pondering to see that all four guards were now staring at him. He quickly lost what doubt might have been on his face, standing straight and taking charge. "Two of you find food for her, and then guard her while the other two prepare a room."

"She's agreed to service?" One of them questioned, seeming sightly shocked.

Orochimaru didn't answer, moving on quickly, shaking his head.

_That's one word for it. _

* * *

"Kabuto-san?"

Kabuto had finally settled into bed, though he throughly doubted his ability to sleep at the moment. Still, it was good to finally fall onto his bed when the day had taken such a strange turn.

He was just about to take off his glasses and try to sleep anyway when there was a knock and call at his door, disturbing him.

"Rishu? What are you doing outside of the prison?" Kabuto called back, sitting up only slightly, already quite comfortable.

Kabuto saw that his door had been cracked open, Rishu peering in and waiting for the okay to come inside. Kabuto finally grunted, motioning the boy and leaning back onto his bed, sighing. "Surprised Orochimaru didn't turn around and have you executed in her stead."

"About that..." Rishu sat down on the floor, looking up at Kabuto with wide eyes. "Kabuto... what exactly happened back there?"

"To be totally honest... I have no idea. I knew Loor is very close to both the boy inhabited by Shukaku and the boy who has the Kyuubi. I never suspected her of being demonic as well... but something doesn't fit. She has the same powers at the boy possessed by Shukaku. Plus the people of her world, as you've seen, know nothing of demons."

"Kabuto-san... before, when I met her, she wore a vial of sand quite often. Did she have this when you first saw her?"

"No, it was gift. Gaara gave it to her. I saw it as unimportant..." He cursed quietly. "Apparently not. Whatever happened, Gaara must have somehow given her this... power. I didn't think transfer of demonic power was possible, though Orochimaru occasionally muses on such a thing."

"What will he do to her?" Rishu questioned, wide eyed. "I heard that he had you restore her somewhat..."

"She's worth keeping alive with an ability like that. Orochimaru will explore more options... now that she's displayed such power, he'll be willing to treat her as somewhat equal, even bargain with her."

"Does that mean... she might get out of here?" Rishu asked, staring.

"No. Orochimaru can't risk this location ending up on a Konoha map. He'd kill her before he let her go."

Rishu's momentarily hopeful expression dropped, the boy shaking his head. "She shouldn't be here..." He sighed while getting up off of the floor. "I have no doubt she'll attempt an escape now that her life as been handed back to her." He began to turn to leave, but hesitated. "Do you still have their headbands?"

"Yes." Kabuto confirmed. "Fury found them and refused to let me throw them out. I'm sure she'll let go of it sooner or later, but for now I figured I'd let her cling to the past."

"Don't throw them out." Rishu commanded, turning his head to give a piercing look to Kabuto. "When she's willing to let go of them, have them sent back to Konoha. Perhaps Sasuke's bird can carry them."

"Headbands are as good as tombstones, Rishu."

"Their village will bury them within another month or two... they might as well have something to bury."

Rishu left quickly, as his last words have been overcome with emotion. Kabuto sighed as the boy shut the door behind him, resting his eyes and shaking his head. Rishu was so young, so full of emotion and sentiment. Kabuto feared the boy would die by his emotions before he even had a chance to try and get away from this place.

Kabuto actually hoped that Rishu did escape. He, like Loor and Fury, had no place here.

But he also knew that hope was futile. It was simply impossible.

He nearly jumped when his door suddenly opened again. At first he expected Rishu had returned, but in opening his eyes and looking, the truth surprised him some.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

"Come, now." He ordered at once, turning and leaving the door open. He was off, not waiting for Kabuto to comply with his command, leaving him to trip out of his bed, quickly slipping a night robe on while shutting his door and bustling after the master.

"Orochimaru-sama, is something wrong?" Kabuto questioned as he caught up, fumbling with his robe-tie.

"Wrong?" The elder hissed. "I wouldn't say so. I would say that things have suddenly gotten quite interesting."

"May I ask what you mean?"

"I haven't the words to make you comprehend, Kabuto." He shook his head, looking like he was trying to smile and frown at the same time. It gave him a twisted expression that Kabuto didn't see often. "I haven't the words to make _myself _comprehend, and I have already seen it."

"Sir... I am getting very confused, and it takes a lot to do that to me."

"I'm aware. I'm confused myself... but I need you to see her, talk to her, to understand, before I can consult you on what we should do."

"Her? Are you talking about Loor?"

"Of course I am! It's extraordinary... she's..." His twisted face finally decided upon a grin. "Perfect."

Kabuto stilled his tongue, looking straight forward for the rest of the walk to Orochimaru's quarters, beyond confused. The last time his master used that word, it was describing Sasuke as a vessel. He could not imagine him using it to describe any person as a whole, and particularly not Loor.

Something was very wrong.

Orochimaru stood outside, bidding Kabuto to enter when they arrived. This did not do well to ease Kabuto's nerves, pushing the door open and shutting it behind him, though not all the way.

Just in case he needed a speedy escape.

When he turned he was at once shocked. There were two dead bodies in the room; probably posted guards, and Loor, stretched out upon the bed like a pampered cat.

She was happily feeding herself from a bag of fruits and bread, currently chewing her way through a roll and looking up at him.

At once she broke into a beastly grin, sitting up from her lounged position and giggling. "You! I remember you. The manipulator, and Fury's stalker for some time."

Kabuto had looked back down to the dead bodies. From the way their heads were turned, which was all the way around, he had to assume that their necks had been broken. But surely... Loor wouldn't have have done such a thing?

She glanced down at the bodies herself, and then giggled. "Oh, those two. First one was being stingy with the food, and the other one... well, you break one neck, and suddenly everyone wants to talk to you. The other two were going to come in, but I suppose they understood that some distance was warranted."

"But..." He was shaking his head, befuddled and lost. "Loor...?"

"No, not really." She smirked, leaving the food behind to stand up from the bed, slinking closer to him, stepping over the bodies. "I suppose your master was at a loss for words on how to explain me... he doesn't know how to talk to me. Loor was so easily dominated, thanks to her hate for the man. With her need not to appear weak, she never relaxed enough to take control. She was always trying too hard..."

Kabuto felt the urge to back up a step as the girl, whoever she was or thought she was, drew close, but made an effort to hold his ground.

She giggled, reaching forward and tapping him on the nose. "Always thinking too much, just like all of you silly people. Right now your master is trying to think about how to keep me around, to rein me in. But I promised to kill him if he kept me too long, and if Loor has taught me anything, it's that keeping promises is most important."

"What are you?" He finally demanded, taking a step forward as if trying to intimidate, trying to gain control over her and the situation.

She didn't move back, actually leaning forward to get right in his face while smiling.

"I'm the monster that hides under the bed for all you care... all you need to know is that I don't want anything other than my eventual freedom. With that promised, I'll work. Inform your master I won't bargain or barter. I'm not a creature of thought and manipulation, like you people."

Kabuto was dumbfounded. He had nothing to say to her laser-like gaze, which was several shades darker than he remembered Loor's eyes being. Perhaps it was simply her mannerism, but she looked evil in every sense of the word. Not evil in the way of dictators and conquerers, tormentors or murderers, but simply in the pure intent to do whatever she wished without the slightest forethought.

He glanced to the dead bodies on the floor. Their weapons were not even drawn.

"Do you know what it means?" She asked while bumping her nose against his, as if to get his attention back. Her tone was soft, seductive, like an auditory lure. "I don't think... so you can't manipulate me. I am completely unpredictable."

"Really?" He asked, swallowing and drawing his head back slightly. "I predict you're about to attack me."

She giggled and suddenly took hold of him, drawing him into a rough and violent kiss.

Kabuto felt like he'd been hit by an electric shock, trying to step back further and push her off, but she would not be denied. She asserted herself, biting his lip as he continued to struggle against her, forcing him against a wall. It was not until Kabuto stopped trying to get away that she released him, licking her lips and grinning, not backing off one bit.

"I suppose you could call that an attack... if that's what you people are callin' it now."

He was left open mouthed and speechless. There was no expression for how strangely violated he felt in that one moment, and in the fact that he had just been overpowered by a woman. He had expected to join the ranks on the floor, not for her to try and rape him.

She licked his nose, and let go of him completely, turning and making her way back to the bed to get back to her food. "Inform your master that there will be no setting terms with me. There's nothing he could offer that I wouldn't simply take if I wanted it. Like this room." She settled back where she had been laying, stretching out. "If I decided I wanted to sleep here, your master wouldn't even try to remove me. He knows I'll just kill more of his people if I don't get my way. Even he isn't so cold, or stupid, to try and push me around at the expense of so many lives."

"We'll find a way to contain you." Kabuto tried to threaten, though it came off as an empty and powerless promise. He was groping for a way to retake control.

"You can try." She giggled. "Go ahead, go back to your master, plan your plans, and get back to me soon enough... I do enjoy good company, and you do look rather..." She licked her lips, cocking her head every so slightly to the side. "Mmm... _yummy." _

Kabuto felt he couldn't get out of that room fast enough.

* * *

Who was expecting _that?_ Not me. Gotta love it when the muse takes over and changes the story.

Two more to go.

**No ownage!**

-Loor


	41. String Pulling

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Forty One- String Pulling**

Lyra was wandering the many halls that made up Orochimaru's underground compound. She wasn't up for any particular reason, perhaps other than having no wish to sleep at the moment. She'd been given her own room, but sadly it was only hers. No roommate. No one to pick apart, or, better yet, male company for restless nights. She imagined Loor would be quite unhappy with the actions that had already been taken with her body, but Lyra counted on the fact that the girl would have no memory of this time.

No. The girl was a little ball of thoughts right now, and all those thoughts were curled up in the back of the mind, assuming that her head was no longer attached to her body.

It was a true shot of luck and the sudden chakra exertion, as Lyra had used her own stores and stolen from Loor to protect her, had knocked the girl out.

And that Loor had been so committed to death. If she had any fight left in her, she would have tried to roll out of the way, or done something else like looking up at the blade to see it coming. That would have given her the inkling that she wasn't dead, but saved at the last second.

Loor would thank her later. Lyra knew the girl wouldn't stay asleep forever. Her mental condition would eventually realize is was simply frozen in stasis and start reaching out soon enough.

Lyra would start building her escape at once, and hopefully be out of this place before Loor took over again and ruined everything. She wouldn't be able to go through with what little of a plan Lyra had formed. The girl was far to set in her own ways, and strangely honest with her enemies. Not once had the girl tried to manipulate Orochimaru, or Kabuto. She only bent her friends with sweet words and half-truths, but never those she hated so. She was too focused on being taken seriously, but that very focus was what made her seem puny and ultimately childish.

Loor would never learn such things. She couldn't.

But Lyra. She was more than capable. She would carry on through this strange time, and protect her host from this nightmare.

Anyway, she was having fun. She missed her natural form, but had no wish to expend the extra chakra to try and morph, despite the fact that her true form would probably scare the life out of anyone she passed.

And she did pass many. Every hall had some activity, even if was just one shinobi wandering through. According to what she'd been told it was quite late at night, but a proper base was never left unguarded at any hour.

Perhaps it was the time of night that explained her restlessness. She walked through many halls without direction, yet with memory both in smell and sight of exactly how to get back to her room. She also began learning people as she passed them, matching faces to scents. It was strange. Her nose knew most people through Loor's eyes and nose, but now fully active she became exposed to so many smells and people she began to wonder how one kept everything straight.

There were too many people. Too many smells. After some time into her walk, she decided that so many were not worth even trying to remember unless she was going to kill them. Kills were always worth remembering; recalling with a soft smile on nights such as this.

Nights when she couldn't even see the moon, caged in under the ground. She was promised she'd be allowed to go outside, but Orochimaru hadn't said it, just the lacky that led her to her room. She didn't believe anything she didn't hear from the boss himself. The lacky had been afraid of her, so he was willing to say whatever she wanted to hear.

That was a nice effect she had on peons, but she would rather have that effect on people who actually mattered.

"Loor?"

Lyra snapped out of her aimless wandering at the name of her host, realizing someone was speaking to her with some measure of shock. She brought herself to stop, turning and looking back into the hall behind her. "Hm?"

Behind her was a tall boy with dark hair and near white skin. She squinted at him for a moment before she remembered who he was with a grin, turning completely around to greet him.

"Sasuke. Looking as dark as ever... I remember you were one of her more successful projects, till you ran away."

He stared at her in confusion for several moments, obviously bewildered past his own dark demeanor. He was pushed to curiosity by seeing sand protect Loor's body before, and Lyra's chipper attitude now. Of course he saw Loor's smiling face, not the personality behind it.

She giggled, walking with one foot directly in front of the other, a sort of slinking walk she had adapted for Loor's body, as she was not allowed to skulk about on all fours without looking quite silly. Humans were rather clumsy creatures, and their arms were too short. Still, Loor's large hips swayed quite nicely with the way she walked, so it was just as well.

"You look quite confused, Sasuke. Would you like me to clear things up for you?"

"Kabuto told me you were not quite yourself..." He said after a moment, his eyes going from curiosity to cold business. "He said he couldn't explain, that I had to see you myself. I've been following you for a while, since you left your room, but you don't seem to be going anywhere. I can't believe Orochimaru would grant you freedom to roam the compound so quickly with how stubborn you've been... so kindly tell me what the hell is going on."

"I could." She said, but then she smiled coyly. "But lets just play this in stride and have you guess."

He blinked, the curiosity returning as she turned to continue down the hall. She got a few steps away before looking back, still smirking. "Well? Are you going to walk with me, or shall I continue on all by my lonesome?"

He sighed, finally starting after her, the two of them walking side-by-side once he caught up. "You just can't do anything simply, can you? Have to make everything complicated..."

"I do not!" She protested with a laugh. "I make things far simpler than_ she _does. Though... I guess dying is pretty simple, so I did complicate things this time. But in a good way."

"Why are you talking like that? What _she?_"

"Little Loor. Can't you tell? She's not really in control anymore."

He gave her a hostile glare. "Don't play games with me. I want to know what the hell is going on, not have you dance around my brain. You _always_ do that; annoy people to figure them out. There's nothing to figure out here, so stop babbling."

"Ooooh, touchy!" She whistled, giggling. "I can tell I'm going to have all sorts of fun with you while I'm here."

"What the hell did he do to you? Did Kabuto give you happy drugs or something?"

"Kabuto didn't give me anything but half a warning and an unwilling kiss. Boy doesn't know how to have any fun at all." She suddenly hopped in front of him, grinning up and making him stop in his tracks. "I'm sure you'd be rather interesting... you've got more fight in you than Kabuto. He has nothing but the cold killer instinct. You... you have that, plus rage."

He grunted in disgust, shoving her into a wall and holding her there, just under the chin, with his forearm. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He snapped. "Last time I saw you, you were heartbroken over Gaara and lamenting your family."

"My near execution doesn't count? How about the kidnapping from the Okiya?"

"Fine, last time before I ran away."

She rolled her eyes, her lids closing for a moment before she gave a sudden jerk, getting loose from his hold, grabbing his arm, and throwing him against the wall while drawing his weapon; a katana worn at his hip. If not for that move he would have been on her in less than a second, but the naked blade pointing at his face the moment he turned away from the wall changed his mind.

He could overpower her, if his memory was accurate. But still, he decided to wait it out a bit.

"Sasuke..." She shook her head, her eyes hardly open, looking down, a frown on her face. "Little suffering Sasuke. You thought you had a friend here? Do you think you know me in this situation?"

He stared at her down the length of the blade, noting how she was holding it. "I know you don't know how to handle that thing."

"I still know which end is the dangerous one." She snorted, her lids lifting for her to glare at him. They seemed several shades dark from Loor's usual blue, but he blamed it on the poor lighting in the halls. "You will not understand my behavior. Live with it. I have a plan to get out of here, and rescue Fury in the process. I know you won't help me, but I will have to kill you if you try to stop me."

"There isn't a way out of here, Loor." He shook his head, frowning at her.

"Not by force, you fool." She said while smiling. She turned the katana in her hand, presenting it back to Sasuke, handle first. "I have my ways, and I will work them to the best of my ability. I expect you to keep out of it."

"I still think there's something wrong with you." He growled, taking his weapon back and sliding it back in its sheath.

"That's nice." She turned her nose down the hall once more, to the way she'd been walking, then stopped, biting her lip for a moment and then looking back. "Heh... I forgot where I was going."

"You were going somewhere? You've been wandering at random, and you've looped back on your own path several times."

"Following my feet, you could say. But I remember I did have a destination in mind when I left my room. I just don't remember. I forgot a while ago, but one doesn't realize they've forgotten till they try to remember."

"Glad you're still at least a little like yourself, explaining things and making it sound like zen advice."

"Lessons will always be learned. But..." She paused, sniffing at the air before turning back down the hall, to the way she came from. "Ah, that's where I was going."

"How did you get him to trust you this far?" He asked as she passed him.

"Orochimaru?" She paused, glancing back. "Oh, a little coaxing. I threatened to eat him."

She giggled while continuing on her way, hearing Sasuke choke on her words. Wasn't her fault that it bothered him; it was just the truth. She didn't take the time to explain anything further to him though.

There was someone else she wanted to talk to.

* * *

"Fury?"

From how she felt, Fury was sure it had to be at least three in the morning. Without windows in the underground there was no true way to tell, but going by how her body felt, the hour was ungodly. Still, she roused from the bed roll she called her own to the sound of Kabuto's voice.

Since her release from prison, she'd been staying in a room conjoined to Kabuto's own quarters so he could keep an eye on her till she had proved that she could be trusted in a room of her own. He kept near constant tabs on her, but the two of them spoke rarely.

Fury had not spoken much since she'd gotten out of the prison. She spent most of her days in her room, quiet, reading books on medicine that Kabuto gave her to study so she could work with him.

Still, when spoken to, she knew to answer promptly. So she roused herself and sat up in bed, squinting in the darkness of her room before identifying the shine of his glasses in the dark.

"Who is Lyra?"

The question came out of left-field for Fury. It made her blink at him, cocking her head to the side, though he couldn't see either of the actions in the inky black. Why would he ask that question? Still, her natural obedience made her answer the answer she knew best.

"Loor's muse. A voice in her head."

"Her demon?" He questioned, his voice a rough whisper.

"How did you--?"

"Shush. I want to know something, Fury. This creature... Lyra, does she have any weaknesses?"

"Weaknesses? Um... I don't remember. I didn't read the stories very much."

"Stories? What stories?"

"Loor's stories. Lyra got her name in stories Loor wrote. She was always there before, but that's where she was fleshed out into fiction. She was a monster, but she lived in the main character and took over now and then. Loor explained it to me... she's not evil, she just tries to do what she feels is right, not caring what's in her way."

"Sounds about right..." Kabuto grumbled.

"What do you mean?" She strained her eyes to try and see the look on his face. "What's going on? Is Loor okay?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'okay.' Fury, please think hard. Did Lyra have any weaknesses? Anything Loor might have said?"

"Why don't you ask her? I didn't read the stories much. They didn't interest me."

"But she must have talked about them."

Fury felt her face turn slightly red, confessing. "I... I'd tune out... I just didn't care."

She could hear him growling. Why was this so important?

"But the real Lyra..." She offered. "I know she has one thing going on with her."

"Yes?" He prodded.

"Light. She can't stand light. During the day, Loor couldn't talk to her. It was only at night. Her power was always there, but not her voice."

"Loor told you this?"

"It's a little more interesting when the demon is really real. And really crazy. Lyra's nature is to break every taboo she can. She tried to get Loor to make out with me once."

Fury stared into the darkness as there was silence from Kabuto. This thought seemed to disturb him.

* * *

"Loor!"

Lyra had scarcely entered the prison block before she was rushed and hugged by the red headed boy named Rishu. Lyra had little memory of her own of the young man, but enough scraps from Loor's thoughts to know he was a friend, and a possible ally in getting out of this place.

"Rishu." She greeted in return, squeezing him tightly, taking in the feel of his body more than enjoying the hug. Like most shinobi he was all muscle. Pity he pulled away before she was able grope his rear.

"How in the world are you already walking around free?" He questioned, staring at her in wonder.

"Sasuke asked the same thing." She answered with a shrug. "You could say I made Orochimaru something of an offer. We're still working out the particulars, but for now I have my own room and free range."

The boy stared at her, dumbfounded. That confused Lyra, she felt she was playing Loor's part quite well, not pouncing the boy and trying to seduce him into loyalty. No, she was telling it how it was, like Loor would. What was wrong?

"How? No one makes deals with Orochimaru. He gives out orders, and people take them. That's it. Last time I tried to negotiate with him, I ended up down here."

Oh.

She put on a confident smirk, shrugging. "I took charge. He's not used to other people doing that. Once I had control of the situation, he couldn't get it back."

"But... wait... did you?"

"Agree to service?"

He nodded, slowly.

She nodded right along with him, putting an arm over his shoulder and leading him back to the mat he had been lying on when she had come in. "Yes, but on my own terms."

"How could you?" He asked quietly. "How could you work for him? He killed your family."

"And he killed your parents. Why are you still working for him? If you were so dedicated, you would have started a riot by now."

Rishu looked as if he wanted to argue, but bit his tongue. She was right.

"Please, dear boy, don't count me naïve. I agreed to service to escape. I have a plan, and if you decide to help me, you just might get your ticket out of here as well."

"What? How are you gonna get out of here? We're trapped in a fortress full of _his_ people. They love him, or fear him, or both. Some of them call him father for goodness sake."

"Simple, simple. You don't need to know anything more than your part, in case you decide to chicken out and someone tortures it out of you."

"Loor!" He protested. "I would never--!"

"Need I point out that you're still working in this hole, not just living in it?"

Again, he bit his lip and looked hurt. She was being rather harsh, but he got the point. "Fine... what do you want me to do?"

"On a night that I tell you to do so, make a run from Orochimaru's quarters to the door to the outside. Neutralize any guards in the halls or at the door. Then, get Fury."

"She lives in Kabuto's quarters."

"She won't be by the time I'm ready to move. This will take some time, Rishu. Difficult things take time, as well as forgetting things takes time."

They had long been standing next to his mat, and she let go of his shoulder to sit on it, smirking at him.

It was that smirk, that cat-like, clever smirk that finally put the spark of rebellion into Rishu's eyes. Lyra saw it, and winked.

"I will be ready when you need me." He said, sitting next to her.

"Very good. I could do this alone, but I cannot risk hurting Fury. It will be your job to keep her safe."

"She's important to you?"

"She's important to someone. Several someones. I need to bring her home safely if I want to hear any praise at all when I get back to the Konoha gates."

"Do you think they'll prosecute you as a missing nin?"

"No. I doubt it. But no one is going to be happy with _me."_

Loor was probably going to get a hero's welcome, but she didn't mention that.

Rishu sighed, and then gave her a meaningful look. "Loor... do you think... _I_ could possibly get into Konoha if you testified on my behalf?"

"No idea, Rishu-kun. Be willing to try though." She got up, smirking down at him. "We could use a few more cute nin like you."

She then turned to leave, walking for the stairs that led back to the door.

"Loor?"

She looked back over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised. "Hm?"

"That sand... how...?"

"Secrets." She answered him with a smile. "Maybe I'll tell you another time. For now, eat well, train well, and behave yourself. I'll need you later on."

He blinked at her before nodding, seeming satisfied with the answer. She turned from him and heard him laying down on his mat to sleep. She mounted the stairs, walking to the top and getting to the door. She stopped there though, looking up into one of the high corners of the dank room.

She smiled as a small mass of sand fell away from the security camera Orochimaru used to keep an eye on the prison block.

"_Gomennaisai, _Orochimaru-kun." She giggled at the camera. "I needed to speak to Rishu alone. No peeping."

With that, she left, heading back to her room, contented for the night.

* * *

Tee... hee... hee. -squeaks!-

I'm having fun with this.

**I own nothing!**

-Loor


	42. Planning Ahead

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Forty Two- Planning Ahead**

"You want to do _what?"_

"Please don't make me repeat myself, Kabuto. You know I don't like to."

"Orochimaru-sama, she is not ready!"

"Ready? Her sister survived two years ago, and the two are at near same potential. I already have everything ready, and I expect you to convince her within the next few hours."

"Can she at least see her sister first?"

"Kabuto... we both know that thing walking around in Loor's body is not Fury's sister."

"True, but Sasuke saw her last night, and he is under the impression that it is Loor, but he accused me of drugging her. I think Lyra is choosing who to reveal herself to while running under the ruse of Loor for others. She will probably keep herself a secret to Fury, and try to act like Loor."

"_Probably, _Kabuto. That's the problem with her... she has no definitives. No guarantee to her behavior. The only way to threaten her would be to threaten Loor, and I can't even do that as long as she has those damn sand powers."

"So why the sudden focus on Fury and advancing her curse?"

"A test, Kabuto. One you'll understand as soon as you do as your told."

"... Yes sir..."

"Good boy."

* * *

"Kiba? A-are you in there?"

It was Hinata who knocked softly on Kiba's door. It was just sunset upon Konoha, on the same day that Kiba had received that grave message from Tsunade. He had not shown up for training, and Kurenai sent Hinata to see if he was alright. Still, this was the forth time she'd knocked. She had only persisted as much as she had because she could hear the dogs barking inside the apartment.

Kiba wouldn't leave them alone, would he? He was far too close to Akamaru, and attached to Schizo, to leave the apartment without them.

"Shut up!!"

Hinata flinched back from the door when she heard Kiba shout at the dogs, slowly creeping back to call against the door once more.

"K-Kiba? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" She heard him growl. She could hear him moving around, probably coming to the door. "I... I just didn't feel so hot today. Kurenai doesn't want us coming to training sick, does she?"

The door finally opened, and she saw him.

At once she knew there was more going on than a simple case of the creepy crud.

Kiba looked, in a word, broken. His hair was flattened from spending the day with a pillow, his face shiny and his eyes wet and red. The dogs stood behind him, as if he would fall over at any moment and they wanted to catch him.

"Oh my... K-Kiba! What happened?"

He seemed to notice just how shitty he looked, because he didn't try to deny anything. He just glanced down at his ruffled person before standing aside an motioning her in. She slowly complied, frowning in concern. It was strange for Kiba to be so quiet, but it was also strange to find him fresh from crying, so she decided not to press him with questions and let him explain on his own.

Kiba turned to the garbage can near the door, reaching into it and pulling out a scroll. Nothing else had been in the waste basket so it wasn't dirty or anything. Without any words, he handed it to Hinata and then reached around her to shut his front door.

Hinata slowly opened the scroll, glancing up as Kiba ventured to the other side of the room, sitting on the table and watching her.

She turned her eyes down to the document, read through it, and gasped.

"Oh... oh no... Kiba... I'm so sorry. I-I should go. I'll tell Kurenai that you're just sick, o-okay?"

"No." He finally said, quietly. He looked at her from under his damp brow, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand before shaking his head at her. "I'm not sick. I'm just trying to figure out what we can do."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked. "I'm sure Lady Hokage will hold a service for her--"

"She's not dead, _dammit!"_ He snapped suddenly at the mention of a memorial service. "I would have sensed _something_ if anything had happened to her. She can't be dead! It just doesn't make any sense. I'm trying to figure out how to convince Tsunade that we need to send a search party."

Hinata was stunned into silence. She stood by the door, the dogs close to her, Schizo nuzzling under her hand, looking to get her ears scratched.

Her hand complied as she looked down at the scroll in her other hand, reading the words again.

"Kiba..."

"I can't accept it. If she won't organize a mission, I'll run away to find Fury. Me, Akamaru, and Schizo. We're as good as a three man team. I won't take this _bullshit_ and just move on." His teeth were barred, fangs showing as if he intended to rip apart anyone who got in his way.

Akamaru trotted over to his owner, jumping up to put his front paws on the table and nose up into Kiba's face, whining.

Kiba blinked, and then relaxed a little, nodding, getting up and going back to Hinata. When he spoke, with was with new resolve.

"I can't lose her. Hinata, help me. Spread the word about this to any other shinobi who'll listen. If I got enough people on my side, Tsunade will have to organize a mission. Maybe one of the others has some information on the Sound Village that might give us enough advantage for her to consider it. She's out there, somewhere. I can feel it."

Hinata opened her mouth, but then closed it an nodded, offering him a smile while trying to give the scroll back to him.

He shook his head, pushing it into her chest. "I don't want that. Burn it, throw it away, show it to the others when you tell them, I don't care. I never wanna see the lies on that paper ever again."

"Okay. I'll keep it." She agreed while rolling it up and stashing it into a pocket, as if Kiba's gaze would light it on fire. Moving to leave, she looked back at him as he took the dogs to go and hide in his room once more.

"Kiba... you won't be alone."

"I know. I got you on my side now. Trust me, it makes me feel a lot better."

"N-no... not that. Gaara... he's gonna get a letter just like this one. He won't believe it either. And he's the Kazekage. Maybe you should try to contact him. He has the most influence out of all of us on Lady Hokage."

Kiba, standing in the door frame to his room, suddenly flashed one of his old smiles to Hinata.

"You're right... I should have thought of that! I owe the guy a favor anyway. Thanks Hinata."

* * *

"How is he?"

Temari shook her head sadly when questioned by Kankuro. He had just entered the room with dinner for three, though there were only two conscious people in the room.

Temari sat on a bed with Gaara's head in her lap, where he occasionally mumbled things but was mostly incoherent and hardly lucid. When he had read the message from Konoha he literally jumped out of a window and hit the ground running, and it had taken most of the day for his siblings to track him down and bring him back to the village. He had gotten out of the village before Shukaku had been unleashed; proof that the boy's mind had been pretty much shattered.

And that was to be expected. According to the letter they got from Konoha, Loor was dead.

Strangely enough, Shukaku had not run back to the village to cause havoc like he usually would. Instead the north-ward path that Gaara had been running was continued by his demon till the creature expended itself, leaving Gaara at the mercy of the desert sands till his elder siblings caught up and found him half buried.

Getting him back to the village took afternoon and evening, and now they were spending their night, keeping watch on the youngest till he showed a clear sign of life.

"I kinda expected a snap reaction... but I didn't expect him to nearly kill himself."

"What would you do?" Temari asked quietly, leaning over and grabbing a wet rag that Kankuro had also brought in on the food tray, putting in on Gaara's head.

"No idea. I can't imagine what he's going through." Kankuro admitted. "Never been there, caring that much for someone."

"I don't _want_ to imagine..." She sighed, shaking her head. "But what do we do now? She was technically one of ours, so I suppose a memorial service is in order, but--"

"She's not dead."

Both Temari and Kankuro snapped looks to Gaara, for this was the first coherent phrase he had spoken since he'd ran. Neither one could help a reflexive 'huh?'

Temari, being the oldest, flew into mom mode. "Gaara, are you alright?"

"No..." He growled, sitting up out of his sister's lap and looking around as if to get his bearings, not noticing as the wet rag that was on his forehead dropped to his lap. He must have been buried in his mind, either arguing with Shukaku or just thinking. "And I won't be till I find out what happened to Loor... and water... I could use some..."

Kankuro complied in getting water without asking the question of how Gaara could seem so certain in Loor not being dead, as the letter from Lady Hokage reported her to be. Neither one wanted to seem doubtful, but they both were.

Gaara took the cup that Kankuro soon offered, downing it quickly and resting it against his lips after it was empty, not moving to hand it back for a refill. His eyes seemed to look beyond the room they were in, unfocused and yet razor sharp.

He stood up suddenly, dropping the cup on the floor.

"I am going to Konoha. Take care of things while I'm gone."

"What?!" Temari leapt after her brother, grabbing his shoulder and getting him to look at her. "What the hell are you hoping to accomplish by doing that?"

"She's not dead, Temari." Gaara stated while staring calmly up at his sister. "She carries a part of Shukaku. Either he or I would sense it if something had happened to her."

"You don't know that." Kankuro reproached. "You didn't even know when that energy became active in the first place, or capable of protecting her."

"It's what I believe." He said simply. "And I will chase down that belief in hopes that I find what I want. If I am denied..." He hesitated. "Then a more appropriate funeral will be conducted by Lady Hokage. More people knew her in Konoha."

Temari and Kankuro were left silent as Gaara turned once more to leave the room, probably to prepare at once for the hard trek one had to take to get to Konoha.

"He's got to be running on pure chakra... there's no way he can be up and about after how long he was out there today..." Temari muttered.

Kankuro stood for a moment more before suddenly running for the door. "Gaara! Wait up! I'm comin' with!"

"Eh?" Temari questioned, blinking. "Shouldn't we be stopping him?"

Kankuro looked back, giving a serious look to his sister. "Temari, Loor was like the little sister I never had. If Gaara thinks she's alive, hell, I'm willing to believe that. If there's a chance that she is, whatever kept her from coming home can't be good. We can't abandon her. She might need us."

He then let himself out of the room, running after Gaara.

Temari stood there for a moment more, and then took off as well, following her brothers. "Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

"So... I have to do this?"

Hate is not a word one uses casually. Hate is a word either overused by teenagers angry at various authority figures, or one reserved for only the most detestable of actions and people. Kabuto did not come to hate things without good reason.

But right now, he found himself hating his master. Or at least the orders that were passed down from him. He would admit that to himself, but realized the feeling only came in conjuncture to other feelings.

His feelings for Fury. Some of the flirting he'd done in the letters he'd written to her had been real, not just pretense. She was rather cute, in a somewhat helpless way, but hid raw aggression under her facade that could be brought out with the right needling.

What he had already done to her, kidnapping her and trapping her, had worn him down some. Now, thanks to orders from above, he was forced to push a greater atrocity on her.

"Yes." He answered, walking with her down a hallway. Though he was smoldering under his skin, he presented himself in a cool and business-like way. He tried to seem indifferent to her, but inwardly suffered for it. "The process is essentially harmless, but painful."

"I know." She said quietly. "Loor told me about it... when it happened to her... when that Rishu kid came and made her do it... are you guys gonna put me in a barrel, like Sasuke?"

"That was the same treatment that was given to Loor, Fury. The barrel is an easy container to seal with the proper jutsu tags. Out in the field we need skilled shinobi to make the seals, but here we keep a ready supply for those Orochimaru-sama wishes to advance."

"Why does he want to advance me?"

"A test. It takes an able body to get through the initial curse, but level two is slightly more demanding. To survive the change, you need to be strong."

"I thought you said this isn't life-threatening?!"

"I said essentially harmless. I doubt you will die with how far you've come."

"I don't want to do this..."

"You lost your ability to choose when you agreed to service."

There was a short silence, and she then came to walk a little closer to him. "Will it affect me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I used my mark once... and it affected me. I got mean, kinda crazy, on power. Will that happen again?"

"It's possible. Generally that reaction comes from the sudden arrogant thought that nothing can touch you. Trust me, there are plenty people around to knock you down a few pegs if that happens. There are many with the curse mark, and most of them have been advanced to level two."

"Do any of them belong to you?" She asked.

He looked at her, and softened for a moment. "No. Just you. It is Orochimaru-sama's way of trusting me with power."

She nodded thoughtfully, sighing. "Kabuto-san... is Loor okay? You haven't said much about how she's doing. And last night you came asking about Lyra..."

"She is alive, and has agreed to service, like you. She is in direct command of Orochimaru-sama."

"Oh... I didn't expect that."

"You expected her to die?"

"Sorta, yeah."

"I imagine she still has hopes for escape, but for now has chosen survival."

_As I hope you continue to choose, Fury. As long as you obey, you shall live._

* * *

And that's it for this update!

For some reason the stupid editor is arguing with me. It won't center the title on this one. Hopefully it's a one-chapter glitch and fanfic is just being stupid.

By the by, new poll on my profile. Go vote!

**I own nothing!!**

See you next time punks,

-Loor


	43. Taming The Beast

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Forty Three- Testing the Beast**

"How long does it take to fetch one girl?"

"Orochimaru-sama, I do not want to ask that question to myself at the moment..."

Kabuto felt somewhat sick when he found out exactly what Orochimaru was planning for Fury. They were currently in the same cavernous space that Loor had nearly been executed in. That is, before the sand had leapt up to protect her, triggering Lyra's involvement in the current events.

Orochimaru was once again seated in his throne-like chair, staring intently both at the door at the far end of the room, and at a barrel that was in the smack-middle of the room.

A barrel with seals on it. Kabuto stared at it with pain on his face, as it currently contained Fury. She hadn't put up a fight, going in obediently, but he feared for her survival. She hardly survived the containment cell when she first arrived. Despite being a formidable shinobi, she still had various physical weaknesses.

But that wasn't the only reason Kabuto was fearing for Fury, and thus sick to his stomach.

Orochimaru had sent someone to go get Lyra.

At that moment, his master stopped glaring at the door to look at him. "You never did tell me what happened in your encounter with her."

"I will relate that it was rather unpleasant in a more than demeaning way."

"I can say the same, but she's so interesting, I can't help but smile over the thought."

"She didn't kiss you..." Kabuto groused before pausing and meeting Orochimaru's gaze. "Did she?"

"I hadn't the pleasure." He chuckled, looking back to the door, seeming all the more entertained now. "Though if that is part of her general nature, it would explain why its taking so long... remind me to only send female shinobi to fetch her from now on."

"That wouldn't help, Orochimaru-sama. Fury complained that creature tried to force Loor to kiss her once. Apparently she has no preference."

Orochimaru held a chuckle to himself, shaking his head. "This creature... She is almost an object worthy of study."

"If only to find a weakness we can use against her... I questioned Fury to find the only vulnerability she may have is an intolerance to light and thus an inability to be active during the day; one that doesn't seem to effect her down here where there are no windows."

"Of course not. There's no natural light down here. Even if she had the knowledge of it being daytime, it could never effect her where it can't touch her. Strange..." Orochimaru mused to himself. "Nocturnal, predatory, a dominate female, sexual, ultimately dangerous, clearly twisted, and completely focused on her own goals. She seems to be the personification of everything a human being is taught not to be. Her very nature breaks all the rules."

"Wow, that's a neat way to say it."

Both Orochimaru and Kabuto snapped to attention, out of their conversation, at the confident and sensual tone that differed Lyra from Loor.

"Loor had a particular way of describing me when she first built me into a character..." The creature purred as she entered the giant room, her honeyed voice echoing back and making the effect of many voices, enshrouding her in a powerful aura. "It was something she could remember when people saw her drawing me and asked 'Who is that?.' Funny that they always said 'who' when her pictures always made it rather clear I was not even human."

The two men in the room watched her as she slunk her way across the room to them, carefully picking around the barrel in the middle of the room, laser-locked upon Orochimaru with a smile on her face.

"But Loor, she'd always laugh and say 'Oh, that's Lyra, my muse. Basically, she's every taboo imposed on the human race; broken.' The word taboo always had a nice ring to it... it made me sound dirty. Like I had committed a greater sin than simply doing what I wanted."

She had come to a stop, her stance almost seeming a pose. And true, she looked rather tantalizing in the short robe that all prisoners wore, as she was yet to be given any new clothes. She had left it particularly open upon her chest, and since she walked upon the balls of her feet her rear was punctuated under the loose fabric.

Still, the way she rested her hand on the hem of her collar suggested both her sexual intent and the impression of claws that were not there.

"And is that a sin?" She questioned, tilting her head slightly. "For if it is, I will plead guilty a thousand times over."

"What took so long?" Kabuto broke in before his master could agree with the girl. He could see that Orochimaru was leaning forward in his chair, probably both at the view of the beast's breasts and the fact that she had just presented his way of thinking as her own.

"You can't send an overworked man to me like that and expect me to come without trying to make him smile." She answered, her own smile widening to a grin as she turned her gaze upon Kabuto. He had a shocked look on his face, eyes wide. "What, jealous? You fought rather fiercely before. Are you playing hard to get?"

"No." Kabuto replied flatly. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Still recovering in my room." She shrugged with a giggle. "I knew the way. By the by, I am aware that Loor has no wish to find her body pregnant when she finally comes around from being dead. I assume you have some form of contraceptive around here?"

"Abstinence, for one." Kabuto growled at her, glaring.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh, you _are_ no fun at all."

"The general forces are impotent." Orochimaru broke in. "Chemicals in the food that Kabuto designed himself. Still capable of... recreation, but without the danger of losing our female operatives to reproduction."

Lyra turned to smile at Orochimaru while Kabuto dared to glare at his master, growling before realizing his place in the pecking order once more and smoothing out his face to neutrality.

"Perhaps we should get to the point of this meeting." Kabuto gave, clearing his throat.

"If we must." She muttered with an over-exaggerated huff, crossing her arms under her bust instead of over it. "Even without daylight, I have a sense that it is the morning hours, isn't it? It's a particular feeling of detachment and drowsiness... I hadn't expected it with taking over Loor's physical body, but it would seem there are some parts of my nature I simply cannot escape."

"And yet to still muster up the energy for... _playtime_, it would seem." Kabuto sneered. "You are disgusting."

"Oh, don't talk like that." She cooed. "Only the ones who can't get any get grumpy like that. Still, as you said, let us get to the point. I will be returning to my room after this and expect not to be disturbed till evening."

"Demanding little..." Kabuto growled, feeling the strange primal urge to smack the girl across the face. Still, she produced enough intimidation for him to know that such an action could be deadly. To him.

"Lyra." Orochimaru addressed, smirking throughout all of her and Kabuto's bickering. "I plan to turn you out to active duty soon. As you have already made it clear, you are a night-time only operative, but I have a question of your combat skills."

"My combat skills?" She repeated, her tone somewhat offended.

"You yourself said that you have not had much experience with a physical body. Do you actually know how to throw a punch, or is that sand trick the only string to your bow?"

Lyra cocked her head to the side, as if the idea had never crossed her mind. Kabuto and Orochimaru watched her as she seemed to ponder, uncrossing her arms so she could once again pick at the hem of her collar, her hand moving subtly over the swell of her bust to scratch absently. It was a small movement, but it claimed the attention of both the boys.

The soft rake of her nails over the fair skin of her left breast. It suddenly became very interesting to both men, though she seemed not to notice.

Suddenly, the room dropped away.

Gone was the cavernous space, the floor, Orochimaru's chair, and all other physical space. It was startling, and jarring to the mind, but at the same time was as real as could be. There was nothing. Nothing at all. The two men were floating in space.

And Lyra was right beside them, putting her arms over their shoulders and bringing them together next to her.

"Genjutsu..." Kabuto gasped. "Complex illusion... how could you know how to do this...?"

Lyra laughed, letting them both go and letting reality flow back in. Out of shock Orochimaru's body had stood up out of his chair, and Kabuto had fallen to the floor. Still, as she stood before them, she had changed.

"Please, my friends." She purred, her voice becoming an oppressive force. "I have spent all of my existence manipulating dear Lorie Loor's mind. When she learned the basics for genjutsu along side her sister, how to impose illusions upon an opponent's mind, I filed it away in the event that it might become useful."

She chuckled, still before them and looking down from a greater hight than she had been standing at previously. She smiled at them through fangs that nearly reached her chin, her eyes molten gold like Shukaku, hair long and black with gold at the roots, short and stiletto sharp claws on her fingers and toes, and her skin sand colored with bright purple veins pulsing with power.

"I can make either one of you see whatever I want you to see, you are both top level shinobi as I understand it. I can make an enemy see whatever I want to drive them mad, or distract them long enough to kill them."

She paused, and snickered as both men quickly snapped into action to release themselves from her illusion, stopping all flow of chakra and then expending a massive amount to drive her out of their minds. She allowed it, sitting down to her haunches as they came to look at her once more.

Nothing had changed. The beast still sat there, transformed, laughing at them.

"Of course, when illusion doesn't work... reality is always nice."

This beast before them was Lyra's true form.

"You can change yourself at will?" Kabuto sputtered, slowly getting back to his feet. Lyra was a good three feet taller than Loor was, though still deadly beautiful despite all of her abnormalities.

"That I can." She gloated, though as she did she seemed to shrink back down, the colors fading and her body returning to that of Loor's normal form. "Though, I must admit, it takes quite a bit of chakra to convert a body. Not an amount I would want to waste... but sometimes I like showing off."

"So you've learned everything Loor has." Orochimaru concluded, finally finding his tongue again, along with his confidence.

"I'm living in her brain. What do I have to do other than study her memory?" She shook her head as her voice returned to its sweet and honeyed tone. She was completely back to looking like Loor, but for her eyes, which still showed a few tones darker than usual. "You can imagine the boredom... And toying with Loor can only be fun when she's awake."

"We've gotten off topic again." Kabuto pointed out. "Genjutsu is fine, and you seem to have your own weapons built in when need be, but the question is do you know how to handle that body?"

Kabuto blinked as Lyra was suddenly in his face, her eyes flashing a shade darker than before. "Do you truly wish to question me," she growled, bumping her nose with his to make him raise his chin, as if she were about to take a bite out of his throat, "medicine man?"

He swallowed slightly. "I am not going to test you." He replied. The fear in his voice was great enough to make one think he was fearing for his life, but Lyra sensed his attention directed elsewhere.

Lyra turned from him, back to the center of the room. She took a few steps, sniffing the air along the way, before she halted and looked back at Orochimaru.

"That's a sick joke to play." She said with her eyebrows raised. "I know what that barrel is. Don't think I don't remember that night... but if my nose still works, and I will assume that it does, you have Fury in there."

"That I do." Orochimaru said with an oily smirk, the conversation back on track. "And it will be she who tests your capability in combat. Her death within the barrel is eminent, but the seals will return her to life with new power. Her mind will be addled by it, and she will attack the greatest chakra she senses."

"I _know._" Lyra snarled. "Loor acted the same, though I felt nothing of this power... it was fed only to her flesh. She speaks of an addiction from the mark you gave her, and I have felt it's strange tug since taking over. But now..."

Lyra turned to face the barrel again.

"This power... this is what you gave her? It tastes like poison, and smells of ambition... I like it. She curses you so for making her a slave to you, but I have not felt imprisoned. She should thank you, if this was the gift she was given."

"You're quite welcome, if that is a thank you on her behalf. I knew my efforts would eventually be appreciated." Orochimaru chuckled.

"Appreciated, yes... but don't think I won't kill you if you go back on our deal."

"Of course, of course."

"Deal?" Kabuto questioned.

"All will be explained eventually, I'm sure." Lyra giggled, stalking closer to the barrel that held Fury. "So you wish me to handle Fury when she emerges to prove my worthiness for battle? I suppose that is fair, since someone had to hold her down anyway. Are there any rules to this game?"

"Does this look like a world of rules to you?" Orochimaru questioned, sounding entertained already.

"True..."

* * *

**HOLY GOD I'M ALIVE!**

Sounds like everyone is really upset I've been gone so long... but I'm in my final year of highschool and it just can't be helped. I will try to keep working on Markings, as well as other fics, but please don't get any high expectations. I will do what I can, and no less than that.

Wish me luck in school.

-Loor


	44. Reality

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Forty Four- Reality**

Lyra circled the barrel that held her adversary expectantly. In her anticipation, particular parts of her true from bled through to the surface. Fangs lengthened out as her overbite faded into place, short and sharp claws morphing out of Loor's feeble nails. As the suspense grew she began to growl, stomping now and then at the ground as her eyes grew extremely dark, the pupils wide.

And then everyone felt it. A sudden flair of power that would have made Loor scream in pain. It was the dark purple chakra associated with the curse marks. Loor's mark reacted to it, but Lyra reacted to the abrupt flux, not in pain, but in a bloodthirsty howl.

Loor had never explained the curse to her. She had not existed for the bite, and only knew Loor's overwhelming hatred for Orochimaru. She was told that the mark was a leash, but she didn't feel its tugs as Loor did. But now, she felt a rush of chakra, a flood of intoxicating power, and made no move at all to fight it.

The second flair came, and she welcomed it with a gasp and bellow that was almost in pleasure. The barrel now reeked of this toxic chakra, and Lyra stalked close to let it seep about her, letting it lead her down into where Loor hid this power from her. Where Loor had buried it under anger and memories.

Lyra hissed as the barrel began to break. Another flair was coming, and with it the barrel would explode.

Marks rushed across Lyra as she reveled in the chaotic power that seemed to fill the very room. Black spits of ink and droplets between them flew along her as she backed away, ready for the barrel to burst open violently.

Her scream was joined when splinters of wood went flying. Where the barrel had once been, a figure was shrouded in a whirling typhoon of venom, drawing up from where she lay and uncoiling from what had been a perfectly curled position. Lyra roared with this figure as they both came to realize what ultimate power had been given to them.

Lyra almost didn't know it as the transformation took hold. Not her natural transformation, though her proper from did affect it. This was another form, another level of power, she had never been exposed to. Within her she could feel her own chakra, that of the ravaging beast, mixing with the poison that coursed through her from the curse mark on her shoulder. They mingled, creating something new and terrifying.

As wings, their bones thin and needle-like, sprang forth from her back, her own ears and tail also came forth. Her short claws became longer and thinner, sharper than ever, and her eyes turned their true black. With a scream she dropped to all fours, feeling surges of chakra exploding in her eagerness for battle.

So much power... how could Loor possibly resist all this? How? Lyra reveled in this incredible feeling, looking upon her rival in this contest with a new intent to kill.

But her foe was no less formidable.

Fangs and overbite this creature had, just as long and sharp, and horns pointed for goring. A flair of silver hair, barely over pale as snow skin, and far from disguising great spines that stuck from her back. These dangerous peaks of bone flexed up as she roared back at Lyra, a tail continuing her spine, further spikes sticking out from it as it whipped about. On all fours, her hands had become as dangerous as the rest of her body, fingers ending in great talons of white.

An anchor-shaped blotch of black had formed on her face, stark against the white of her skin. Lyra did not know that the marks that had covered her own body had consolidated into a dark skin color, a diamond blotch upon her own face.

Two of the favored now faced off. Two with curse marks, both at their second level, within their transformation, ready to rip each other apart.

Orochimaru, still sitting in his chair with Kabuto at his side, grinned.

As if repeating a memory from years ago, he said two simple words.

"Entertain me."

They needed no further provocation. Both leapt at each other, like wild animals fighting over tiny morsels of scavenged food. Lyra felt a particular exhilaration; she had never fought before. These claws, though hers, had never been truly bloody.

She dove in teeth first.

The creature that had replaced Fury for this bout ducked under Lyra's first lunge, and then launched past her before she landed, the spines on her back standing up on end again. Screaming, Lyra landed on her feet with streaks of blood down her chest. The simple robe she wore was already in tatters from the transformation and now had been ripped straight down the middle, hardly hanging on and far from decent.

Such a silly mistake she'd made.

Fury rounded, ready for her, hissing and growling, but waiting for her to charge again.

Lyra did so, crouching low instead of diving over. Her wings flared over her back as her head came down. Fury met her in the middle, their foreheads smacking together with a sickening _crack!_ It was a blow to Lyra, but she at once shot her hands out to take hold of the horns that had grown out of Fury's head, wrestling her about, wings beating frantically as Fury shook left and right to pull loose.

But Lyra had forgotten about Fury's tail. Long as Fury was, covered in deadly spines, it whipped about and struck blindly at Lyra, who barely managed to duck under the bony whip. With a great pull Lyra took control of Fury and whipped her around, tossing her and pouncing as she landed upon her back, screaming as the spines were bent the wrong way.

Lyra had realized by now that Fury was covered with too many sharp objects for closed combat to be a reasonably smart thing to do. She had to shift the fight in her direction with her own advantage.

Her wings knew how to fly, even if she did not. She felt them stretching overhead, and lurched into the air on the powerful downbeat as she took Fury, again, by the horns. With the extra weight she was near stopped in the air, and managed another powerful spin to throw Fury into a wall before coming down again.

Looking up, she expected to see her enemy crumpled into the wall, bellowing.

Instead, she found Fury had managed to grapple onto the wall with her great talons on both hands and feet, looking up and snarling. Before Lyra could recover from her own sloppy landing, Fury launched off the wall with all four sets of claws outstretched and ready.

Ready to rip. To tare. To _kill. _

Lyra kicked off the ground again, wings out to span, catching Fury in the air and taking her up with powerful wing beats. The room was plenty big to fly in, but Lyra knew better than to stay in the air with this pin-cushion. She only choose the air for distance.

Fury had righted herself and pulled from Lyra's grip, who could only reach and grab her neck while trying to concentrate on pushing them both further into the air, her other hand reaching back with claws spread. Fury, bellowing, took hold of Lyra's midsection with the powerful claws of her feet, one hand reaching back for a strike to the face, the other reaching forward to cripple Lyra's advantage.

With burning pain, Fury ripped long rifts into Lyra's wing, the edges of the wound seeming to smolder. Lyra screamed, and snapped her wings back instead of continuing to beat at the air.

Fury, being the heavier of the two with all her extra bone mass, shifted to the bottom as they fell back to the floor.

The scream started out as that of the monster, but the rage was fading.

As they fell, Fury reverted to that of her normal self. The curse faded, the power locking away again, and she became lighter than Lyra without the extra weight of the spines, tail, and horns.

But Lyra realized her foe was no longer her foe, and spread her wings wide to hamper the fall at the last moment, as she was now on the bottom.

Her shoulders hit first, and she imagined her head after that. She didn't actually know, as she lost awareness. She felt weight on her chest, and knew the scream of a girl who had to be Fury, horrified at what was going on.

Lyra felt that fighting should have been easier. It had been quite easy to toy with Loor on a regular basis, but it was true that Lyra lived in Loor's head, having all the tools needed to play with her at hand. It would seem the real world that Loor lived in was a tad more difficult.

She had the sensation that she had been picked up, and was moving. Naturally she tried to fight it, but hadn't any idea where her arms and legs were, suddenly unable to feel them.

Lyra had a momentary flash of the one emotion Loor was no longer able to feel.

Fear.

It jolted up her spine in the sudden panic that she was losing control of Loor's body. If that happened, all would be lost. Loor would try to kill herself again, unable to think properly with Orochimaru in the vicinity, and all she would have done was provide a short distraction.

But in that fear she found her feet again, and her eyes, and her arms. In moments she was fully awake again, leaping away from the person who had been carrying her away from the fight.

Pain, a feeling that Lyra was not fully accustomed to, burned on her chest and back. As she glanced around, nearly to the end of the giant room, she found that the fight had ended with her rude introduction to the floor. Her head ached, and it made her want to whine pitifully.

Another glance to the door, she found Fury, passed out, being carried out by Kabuto. She could only assume for bed rest, since she had been tossed about quite a bit. No open wounds, but she could have a broken bone or two. The girl had returned to her normal form, but the clothes she had been wearing had been ripped apart by the change. Passed out and in tatters, the girl looked next to death.

Lyra swooned on the spot as the ache in her head seemed to meld with the pain in the rest of her body, incapacitating her brain. She was caught before she hit the floor again, and she got a chance to look up to see who had been carrying her away from this... fight, if it could be called that.

To Lyra, it was a bit more of a reality check. Not that she had been made unsure by it. Not at all. She would not be put off-balance by changed rules, simply realize the new rules and play the game in a new way. This pain, this discomfort, was not something she had realized to be so debilitating. She would have to avoid it in the future.

Securely in someone's arms, Lyra opened her eyes to see who she was currently powerless to.

Orochimaru's face swam across her gaze, but the colors could not hold true to their objects. After trying to see clearly for several moments, squinting, she began to growl.

"You should close your eyes. You could be concussed. Nothing to do but let the brain recover from getting beaten about."

She didn't like being told what to do, but this was probably more of what people with a physical body had to deal with. Strange injuries that compromised the functions of the senses. With a snarl she did as she was told, relaxing.

"Kabuto was right. You have no idea what it's like to have a body, what it means to bleed or feel pain." He chuckled at her. "Quite amusing, but sadly disappointing. You will need training before I can use you properly... though I do believe I have a few agents that can teach you. I also have a question."

Lyra groaned in disgust. He told her to take it easy and now wanted to ask her questions. "I suppose you can ask, then." She grumbled crossly.

"Why did you not use the sand in battle? It could have given you the advantage you needed to fight at a distance instead of risking bodily harm."

That was a good question. Lyra knew that she had resisted protecting Loor from every blow the girl received for quite some time now. Perhaps so used to not using the sand, it now required her to actually think about it in the heat of battle for her to use it.

And in that fight, there had been so much else to think about...

"Overwhelmed... I had no idea of the power Loor had been hiding from me. So much swirling about, I went to base instinct."

"How much has she told you about her mark?"

Lyra knew that tone. Orochimaru had sensed an advantage, something she didn't know that he could use against her. It made her wary, and she knew her next answer would count for much.

"I know what you can do with it, if that's what you're asking." Lyra lied, assuming power lay in the knowledge Loor had denied her on exact details.

"You didn't seem to be fighting it that hard back there. Why let it run rampant if you know what it does?"

"Loor resists out of her hatred for you. I have no such emotional obligation, and how can a beast resist such power?"

He took her answer with a slight hum of understanding, and she had the sense that they'd stopped walking.

"How is she?" Lyra heard Kabuto's voice, still not troubling with her eyes.

"Might be concussed, but the bleeding has stopped. See to her, and have her returned to her room once she's able."

Lyra wanted to bite Orochimaru for a moment. He spoke of her like she wasn't even there. Still, she felt herself moving again, this time to be set on something that felt like a bed.

And she suddenly felt so weary. She was reminded that the daytime sun was outside the compound, even if she couldn't see it under the ground. The bed she lay on seemed to mold perfectly to her body, providing ultimate comfort as she managed to nuzzle into the pillow.

In her last moments of conscious thought, she missed having her tail curled up around her body. It was a vision she always had before the dawning and going inactive; that of curling up tight and falling asleep. Yesterday she had felt the same remorse, for her true body.

Feeble human nails gripped the pillow, and she came to sleep.

* * *

_What's wrong...? Everything feels so empty, so cold._

_**So dead?**_

_Yes... quite dead... there's nothing left... is there? I failed. I'm dead. Is there anything I can do?_

_**You can rest, sleep away and forget.**_

_But... no, I can't. I feel so lost... was there something I left undone?_

_**Many things, but we all leave the world with unfinished business. There's always something left behind. Sleep, rest, and do not trouble yourself with such thoughts.**_

_But I... I need to come back. I need to be back._

_**But you cannot. You died. You must accept that, and rest.**_

_I can't._

_**You must. You laid down your life for what you believed in, admirable, and died.**_

_I don't care if it was admirable, it was wrong when I had so much left to do! Even if I can't remember..._

_**It is better that way. **_

_Have you already given up?_

_**I am not dead. You are. **_

… _I will rest... for now... till I can remember._

_**Good.**_

---------------------**Author's Corner**---------------------

MEOW!! Okay, Loor has finally started writing original stories, so these stories are no longer getting edited by my mom. That's right, I'm flying solo for the moment. Figure that's gonna slow updates down more than speed them up, as I have to wait a day or two to read a chapter with an objective eye, and balance that with school.

Either way, there are updates. Quite a few.

-Loor


	45. Rallying

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Forty Five- Rallying**

Hinata had worked until dawn. The whole night through she had gone searching for various members of the shinobi teams she knew, and now that the sun was rising she continued on to places where she knew to find particular people. Of course she had stopped at home, bringing Kiba's plea to her father, who had only agreed to support the cause because of how passionate it had made Hinata.

He seemed proud that she'd thrown her weight behind something instead of hiding in the background. Still, she had also hoped to beseech Neji, who had not been present.

She'd already found and convinced a fair amount of her generation, but was yet to find Sakura.

Hinata knew that Sakura would be with Lady Hokage in the morning, and did not want to talk to her in front of Tsunade about this matter. She'd wait until later. For now, she was set on speaking with Neji and his team, and then seeking out the other sensei. Kakashi would be willing to look for a lost comrade, and Kurenai rather missed Fury. If she could get Kurenai, Asuma would follow for sure, and there was no question on Gai-sensei. He adored both girls for how much they had grown in the past years, how much effort they had put forth.

Hinata came to a sudden stop in the woods. Since she was searching, she had her ability activated; the byakugan. She was almost to the training grounds, and she refused to burst in frantic and winded in front of her cousin. She straightened herself, took a slow breath to even out her erratic panting, and walked the rest of the way while letting her ability fade from her eyes.

When she entered the clearing, she found the whole team present, including Gai-sensei.

Everyone looked at her, noting the expression she had held since she had spoken with Kiba the evening before. It was a hard and worried expression, one that had everyone, besides Neji, at once crowding her with concern.

"Hinata..." TenTen was the first to approach, Lee next to her. "What's wrong?"

As she had with other groups, she took the scroll from her pocket and handed it to them. Gai-sensei snatched it up first, slipping it open.

Neji finally joined the rest of the group, his arms crossed and looking bored.

"Wh-what?!" Gai burst out, dropping the scroll as if it were hot. "This isn't possible!!"

Lee picked it up next, and his team mates stood at either side of him to read over his shoulder as Gai went to Hinata, panicked beyond reason.

"She and Loor were together!" Gai crowed. "Don't tell me they both...?"

Hinata nodded, looking to the others.

Lee looked like he'd been struck by lighting, the note drooping out of his hands. Tenten was about the same, almost to tears, as Neji's mouth hung but an inch open in shock.

"Dead?" Lee asked. "She... they... it can not be..."

"Kiba agrees." Hinata finally spoke. "He refuses to believe this... he is looking for support to demand a search party to be dispatched. Also, if any of you have any information that might better such a mission, it would be most useful. We have no maps of Sound territory."

"Tsunade will never authorize such a thing." Neji said. "Without an exact location to search, we have no idea where to look. Such haphazard action risks detection, and Sound needs little excuse to declare war on us."

Hinata, who would usually back down in this situation, took two steps towards Neji and stood up tall. "So you would abandon them, comrades, for fear? Loor and Fury have given up their old lives, homes, and families to become shinobi, and you would simply forget them because of what might happen?"

Neji, and everyone else present, blinked. That was a very bold speech for Hinata. She was always cautious, worried, careful, tiptoeing around every risk and fear. But with her friends concerned, she found strength and resolve, enough to be angry at her cousin, and anyone else who would abandon the friends she had learned so much from.

Fury, so kind, and yet deadly when need be. So willing to blindly dive in when anyone could possibly be harmed, so willing to protect. And Loor, so bold, so confident, and always looking out for others.

How could she, or anyone, abandon them?

Neji looked down, shamed.

"We'll help in any way we can." TenTen assured, Gai and Lee nodding with her.

Hinata nodded. "Kiba and I expect the Kazekage to arrive in Konoha soon after he receives the news himself. When that happens, we will all go to speak with Lady Tsunade."

"And if she refuses to organize a mission?" Gai asked.

Hinata shook her head with a secret smile of hope. "Loor and Gaara... they were quite close... he would go alone if he had to. But with all the support within the village, I do not think that will be necessary."

The whole team nodded in agreement. Hinata turned to walk away, to go look for more people to spread the news to. As she walked, she heard Gai dispatching his team to do the same. The more people who marched on the Hokage Building when the Kazekage came, the more sway they would have.

Hinata's smile grew. She felt this would be what Naruto would do if he was here. She wanted to tell him all about this when he returned.

But he wanted the story to be a happy one, with Loor and Fury present for its telling.

"Hinata."

She stopped in the woods to look back.

Neji stood behind her. The look on his face... it wasn't sad.

It was guilty.

"You are one of the few people I have confided in." He said while approaching her. "You know... what I took from Loor before she left. What I did...." He paused. "I will not have my last memory of her be broken and crying on her bed. I must atone... for that night. If it comes down to a search mission, please, call on me."

Hinata was a little shocked. Yes, she knew what Neji had did. Loor had to lose her virginity to properly pose as Geisha, and Neji had volunteered instead of turning her towards Gaara, who was in town at the time. He knew that Loor had instantly regretted it, and confessed his deed to Hinata. Neji felt guilty at first, but later felt his own regret.

He had enjoyed that night. It was a short snap-shot into something he possibly could have had if he had chased it. In revealing the memory to Hinata, he came to find the want to repeat his actions. It was a physical urge, based in primal instincts, but it had built into a dark and dirty feeling.

Hinata knew. She was good at listening when Neji had something he just couldn't keep to himself. It wasn't often, but she was there when he needed her.

"What will you say to her... when she comes back?" Hinata asked quietly.

"I..." He paused. "I do not see our behavior changing. Our arguments, though heated... were quite entertaining."

She nodded, understanding. "I promise. When the mission comes, you'll be first in line. Behind Kiba, of course."

"_Arigato."_

* * *

"Loor?"

Fury knew she lay in the equivalent of a hospital bed. Why, she didn't remember. How she had become injured, and how Loor had become injured, she had no idea. All she knew was where she lay now, and the fact that she found Loor next to her in another bed.

Loor lay like she was asleep, wraps over her chest indicating she had been injured somewhere along that area. Somehow, Fury could picture long rends down the middle, along Loor's sternum, perhaps deep enough to show the bone, but couldn't quite grasp why she thought that. Fury stared at her sister for that reason, and more. She looked different somehow. Fury decided it was Loor's incredibly short hair. Her head had been shaved for a wig to be waxed on during the Geisha mission, and now that the wig was gone the stubby growth of a few months was showing.

Fury almost couldn't believe they'd spent two months in this place.

"Loor?" She called again. Fury had damage of her own, but Kabuto had been there before to assure her it was nothing major. Just some bruising, though he wouldn't tell her what from. She didn't remember anything after getting put into that barrel, aside from pain.

Loor shifted slightly in her bed, her head turning to her sister and her eyes slowly coming open. Upon waking, she groaned and lifted a hand to her head, obviously suffering some. "Mmmmng..."

"Loor! You're okay!"

"Far from it..." She grumbled, running her hand through her short hair and looking to Fury. She blinked a few times, as if trying to remember something, before allowing a smile. _"Imoto-chan. _I do believe you won that round..."

"What are you talking about? I don't remember a thing..."

"You were put in a barrel, yes?"

Fury frowned, nodding. "Is it like when I first got the curse...? Did I go crazy and... and try to kill you?"

"Tried." She said with a shrug, stretching up and noticing the wraps about her chest. Sitting up in the bed she found the tail of the bandages and started unwrapping it.

Fury looked away, as Loor was not wearing anything under that.

"Oh what? Not like I have anything you don't. Just... a few sizes up, is all. Ugh, look at this. They stitched me up! Don't those people know the first thing about demonic chakra?"

Fury's ears, without her eyes, noticed something about Loor's voice. It was... different. Somehow her quality was something of a more beastly kind, plus her mention of demonic chakra...

And Kabuto's questions...

"... Lyra?"

There was a noise of surprise, and then a laugh. "Ah... of course you would notice. You're her sister. Yes."

"But... how?"

"How else? Loor was going to be executed if I didn't step in. Don't worry, I'll let her back at the controls once we get out of here. Otherwise, the experience might be too traumatic on her."

"Why don't you... look different? Even Gaara had some change when Shukaku was speaking through him... his eyes would change... Loor told me."

"Shukaku is a much larger mass of chakra than me. I am but a fraction of his power, given away. A tooth, out of an entire mouth of fangs. When he shows himself, he is such a massive presence that his host must change some to accommodate him. I... am much less than that. I may take over Loor quietly. I could change her, but simply controlling her is much less strenuous."

Lyra made a noise of disgust.

"Someone should remove these stitches soon... my skin is starting to heal over them."

"Ew..." Fury groused, the image in her head probably less pleasant than what Lyra was actually describing.

"So what is the situation?"

"Eh?"

"You have been out longer than I. Have you been accessing the defenses of the place, or did you just give up and start doing everything you were told?"

"I... I haven't been let out of Kabuto's sight. I'm Loor's sister... they don't trust me among the ranks yet, in cause I try to incite some sort of riot. Kabuto has been teaching me medicines and poisons... he was going to take me outside the compound on one of his collection trips soon."

"Ah, I see... while you're out there, look for any sort of traps or detection items. Also, general shinobi patrols. This place is their set base, it's probably guarded like a fortress. Also, learn as much as you can from Kabuto, though quietly. Don't make him suspicious..."

"Why? What are you planning?"

"I need to get Loor out of here before she takes control again. How long I have, I have no idea, but the sooner the better, don't you think? Also, I need you to come with, alive and unharmed, if I am to live peacefully with my host at all."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"You will see, dear girl. You will see. But I fear this room may be monitored, in which case I have already said too much. I imagine there is no place within this compound that Orochimaru is not looking... aside from maybe his own quarters."

"Are you going to... take missions?"

"Of course. You should too. Right now, the only way to survive is to cooperate. There is only survival."

At this moment, Kabuto walked in. He first came to smile at Fury, before looking at Lyra and at once noting the fact that she'd removed her bandages, leaving her upper body completely exposed. At this he simply lost his smile, becoming cold and business-like. He had no squeamishness about the female body, as he was the top medic for the whole compound.

Of course, he usually was healing the test subjects for new jutsus Orochimaru developed. Not girls turned demon.

"Mind removing these stitches before I heal right over them?" Lyra asked at once, glaring at him. "I would think even you people understood that demons heal quickly."

"We've never had one to experiment with." Kabuto said with a shrug, going to get a set of small scissors and tweezers to remove the unnecessary sutures. "All we really know about demons right now is how badly the Akatsuki wants them."

"I'm guessing you're enemies if you haven't joined forces with them." Lyra mused as Kabuto came to her side with a chair and a tray to drop the stitches on as he clipped them away.

"Quite right." Was all Kabuto said to that.

"What do they want with them?" Fury asked, still turned away.

"Not quite sure... and since they're such a small group of shinobi they're tough to pin down or gather information on. All we can find out is from their public actions, which are few. But that is the way we shinobi are supposed to be. No one is to know anything about us until we've already struck."

"After demons, are they?" Lyra asked as Kabuto got to work, frowning. "Something Loor needs to be wary of, then."

Kabuto glanced up at her. "You told Fury?"

"I guessed." Fury answered. "I noticed what was different pretty quick."

"As did we all... though Sasuke seems to be in denial."

"Leave him that way." Lyra chuckled. "I see no reason to explain what he can't understand."

---------------------**Author's Corner**---------------------

Another chapter down. Forgot this on the last one....

**No ownage!!!**

-Loor


	46. Status Quo

**Markings-Punishment  
****Chapter Forty Six- Status Quo**

"You healed rather quickly."

Lyra had been walking back to her quarters, with nothing better to do. Her internal clock told her it was at least evening by now, and she had planned to take a nap, and then go find something to eat before spending the night aimlessly wondering the compound again.

Or maybe she'd find Sasuke again to needle him some more.

But she turned when spoken to, and found herself smirking. "As demons do." She answered. "Orochimaru-kun."

His gaze narrowed; he seemed annoyed by being addressed as an equal or lesser. "The proper title is 'sama'."

She giggled. His eyes, yellow and snake-like, glowed with a particular fury that said he would not be underestimated. She imagined this look on his pale face would scare most people into submission, but she simply crossed her arms under her bust line, happy to showcase her breasts in the new robe she'd been given, a deep purple garment that hardly made it to her knees. "Well don't you take yourself seriously? Relax, I understand my place enough without all the bowing the scraping that you force your subordinates to do on a ridiculous whim."

He hissed in anger, looking like he had the right mind to lash out at her. Still, after staring at her smug expression for a moment, he came to relax and chuckle. "I would say I would teach you some manners, but I doubt that's possible with your nature." He then began to walk down the hallway, taking a different way than she had been going. "Please, come with me."

Lyra raised an eyebrow, noting the fact that he said please, and then gave a purring giggle while following. "As you wish."

"I do have another question for you, Lyra." He said, hands clasped behind his back in a regal fashion. He was a king within his castle, but Lyra would not forget how irritated he became on the matter of status. He wasn't totally sure of himself and his place, and so he was constantly playing the part to convince himself of his own control.

Pathetic.

"At least my head feels better this time." She smirked. "Ask away."

"How long have you been alive?"

"Eh? What kind of question is that? I would think my age is trivial when it comes to the age of the body I am living in. You should understand that quite well yourself. You are a strapping fifty some, and yet with the bodies you've taken, though constantly retaking your face, has kept your appearance marginally younger than that."

"I question experience." He said simply. "We have already seen today that you have very little of that, combat wise. And though your words are highly developed, I am curious to your understanding of the world. Do you truly know your place within these walls?"

His voice hissed again. She couldn't help a smile; she must have struck a nerve when she had disrespected his title.

"Under you, I believe." She chuckled. "But certainly that doesn't mean I can't have any fun..." She stepped quickly to get in front of him, raising her head up to look him in the eye. "Does it? Or do you fear those under you treating you with something other than contempt or complete adoration? Must they love you, hate you, or be terrified of you?"

She knew she was attacking the nerve she'd touched. It was a technique Loor used, regularly. Only Lyra had no intention of trying to change Orochimaru's ways; that was impossible. No, she was using this technique for it's side effect.

Loor used this attacking behavior to go after a person's weakness, their fears, anxieties, to make them open up. She poked and prodded till she got a reaction, and then chased the reaction down with curiosity. She would ask the most revealing questions, all in wishing to understand and correct the behavior.

In every case that she had done this, she had made a friend. Gained trust. Even Sasuke had fallen to her brutal attacks, even Neji.

Now Lyra used it intentionally, disguised as wanting to know how Orochimaru chose to regard his subordinates.

"Authority must be maintained. If they do not convince me of their loyalty in their every action, I cannot allow them to continue to exist in my midst."

"So smiling and being playful marks a person as disloyal? Or perhaps you get your kicks from other things."

He shook his head at her, going around her to continue to walk. "You do not understand what it is to rule. They must be... conditioned to follow every order without question."

"Oh, I understand that." She was quick to follow him again. "But still you dodge me. Is it so wrong that someone tires to have fun with you? Or are you so very _terrified _of yourself being seen as anything other than a most dangerous tyrant?"

Lyra had less than a split second's warning before he finally lashed out at her. Of course she protected herself, sand spawning and leaping up to protect her in the same way she had protected Loor form the executioner's sword. He quickly drew back, realizing it was hopeless to try and damage her, and she had a grin on her face when the sand dropped away to the floor.

"Tsk, tsk, Orochimaru-kun. You may be an old man, but you have the tolerance of a child... so odd, Loor is exactly the same. So focused on being taken seriously, so ambitious... and so incapable of taking a joke."

He blinked at her before smiling. Yes, he knew that. He and Loor were quite the same. "Perhaps if I had found her earlier, she wouldn't have been such a lost cause."

"No, I think she was doomed to that in your case." Lyra assured as he continued on once more, having stopped when he attacked her. "No matter how early you found her, you could have never beaten the leadership instinct out of her. The only way she could have possibly co-existed with you was if you made her your partner, and eventually she would have found a way to dominate you, like she does everyone else. The young are like that, so quick to surpass their teachers."

He nodded as they came to a door that was different from others in the compound. Most doors were traditional sliding doors, only a few with a more solid construction, like the door that led to the prison; which was wooden and had a knob. This door, on the other hand, was heavy metal.

Orochimaru opened it, and at once Lyra could detect several smells. She could smell two people on the other side of the door; guards, but there was something else that she hadn't had a whiff of in so long it was almost unfamiliar.

Trees. Grass. Dirt.

The outside.

Orochimaru noticed as she changed slightly when a breeze from the outside blew in. Her eyes grew dark for but a moment, claws threatening to overtake the simple undecorated nails of Loor's body.

Lyra was a beast. Her core nature was with the earth outside, not down in dark tunnels. With a smirk, he motioned her ahead of him. She did so without question, darkness-adjusted eyes wide with anticipation.

He followed her with a smug smirk. She was quite the animal, down to her wish for general freedom. He had expected as much, but he was searching for more than her basic nature. A single question was in his brain, and the answer very well could give him an advantage at long last.

Was she a direct off-shoot from Shukaku? The advantage he would gain wouldn't be over her, but it would be over some of his other enemies. If the Shukaku had somehow divided its power among two human hosts, then Loor's body was a new target that the Akatsuki did not yet know about. Though Orochimaru did not know what the Akatsuki were seeking demons for, he knew they needed all of them, their complete power, to do whatever they were doing.

The girl could be used as bait, or otherwise. Leverage. But he wasn't sure yet.

He needed to know the nature of her... birth, as it were. How had she come into this world? Into Loor's body? Legends once said that demons were born off of great hatred between people. Had Lyra somehow come to life through Loor's intense hate of him?

All things to consider.

At first his guards had tensed when Lyra stepped out the door and rushed to the stairs that led up, but when he stepped out they relaxed. Lyra didn't wait for him, racing for the surface.

He took the guards aside, letting them know that she was allowed outside when she wished. He didn't need her breaking necks just because she wanted a breath of fresh air now and then.

Lyra had forgotten her motives of engaging in conversation with Orochimaru; of trying to worm her way into his confidence, while coming away from those stairs and finding her nose had led her true. Grass, trees, wind, and sky sprinkled with stars. Again her actual form tried to push through to the surface, rippling through her before fading once more.

Looking to the east, her eyes sought the moon rise in this early evening.

Its full-bodied shape made her hiss in delight. She'd missed two full moons down in that hole, hidden from their intoxicating feel on her skin.

"You have dodged my question as well, Lyra. How old are you?"

She blinked, turning to Orochimaru and finding him behind her. Still she felt the moon's presence behind her, and her heart thrashed in her chest as her blood heated. It was Shukaku's chakra that brought her to life, and his intentions lived within it. The need to protect the host, to survive, but also the lust for blood and savage pleasures.

She eyed Orochimaru, sizing him up, curious of if she could take him down. He must have noticed her chakra prodding him, gaugeing his power, because he laughed at her.

"I thought you promised the pleasure of killing me to Loor?"

She growled at him, mainly for reminding her of that, but also at the power he contained. He was quite the force to be reckoned with, she could feel. So much chakra, perhaps a mass to equal all that she and Loor together could muster.

Perhaps more. Attacking him would probably prove a near-deadly mistake.

Finally, she managed to calm herself. It was difficult, but she had to. For Loor's sake.

"We find our status quo, then?" She asked. "I can't kill you, you can't kill me... and yet we're both thorns in each other's sides. Sounds almost... poetic, no?"

"I was never much for the arts." He smirked. "Though I will say it sounds quite boring, with us both at a standstill. I prefer things to be eventful."

"As I've heard." She stretched her arms over her head, letting them come back down while finally taking a step down. "Ah... and your question. Depending on your definition of alive... I'm about two years old."

"So young?" His face twisted into a dangerous grin. She had given him information. She knew he hoped to use it against her. "No wonder you refuse to respect status."

"I assure you, I will never learn."

"But how did you come about? I have never heard of a demon being born, not in this age."

"You think I know how I came about?" She laughed. "I know no more of my own birth than any child knows of theirs. I just... happened. Asking me to define my existence is a request most impossible."

Lyra knew _exactly_ how she'd come to be, but wished to give no leverage to Orochimaru. She had already explained how she was not a logical mind, but she would not allow him to know that she was, instead, an _emotional_ mind. Driven by passionate feelings like rage and love, lust and hate. He already knew her base nature, and she feared that alone being used against her somehow.

That was the difference between Loor and Orochimaru, and, in turn, between Orochimaru and Lyra.

Lyra and Loor knew how to lie.

Orochimaru, despite being a literally honest man, was still manipulative.

And so he took her words as truth. A person who could not lie, could not detect a lie.

And he didn't have Kabuto at his side to do it for him.

"Surely Loor has spoken some about it to you, as mothers speak of labor."

She waved a hand. "It has to do with Gaara, and Shukaku. Of that, I know little more." She then stepped up to him again, though not in a hostile fashion. No, she had become playful again. "Consider me a child, if you will. Ignorant. Inferior in every way. Operating on my natural instincts alone. I will do whatever I find entertaining, and I do have quite the short attention span. Like rolling dice, my mind changes so randomly."

She felt the moon at her back again. Without awareness, her true form bled through. Not the form that Shukaku had gifted her, oh no; her fully natural form. From Loor's body grew her fangs and claws, her long black hair, and her pitch black eyes. Her skin turned light, tainted only slightly purple. Her tail lifted the back of her robe, ears growing out and covering with pure silk fur.

A growl, like that from a predatory cat on the prowl, rumbled up from her chest as she saw him blink.

"You reminded me..." She said, her voice like music on the wind, a melody of hypnotic quality. "I may be denied the pleasure of killing you... but it leaves the questions of other pleasures. That is, if you would allow such _fun, _Orochimaru-kun."

This, he had not expected. He knew her nature, and yet he had not expected her to speak so sweetly to him. Her voice was honeyed melody, hypnotic in quality. In each sense he found sensations that all cumulated to something most alluring; sweetly scented and downy soft skin beckoning his touch, shining and wild hair that curled about her most shapely body, and pure black eyes of a huntress, locked onto him with unadulterated interest.

Intoxicating, and dangerous.

But he still had more than a mind to resist. This was a game for her to play, of cat and mouse. She had underestimated her prey. He, in his years, knew more than enough about the charms of woman. The only way to escape was to react quickly and decisively.

She suddenly yelped in pain, a hand flying to her shoulder.

He chuckled at her, having taken control at last. What he had done was quite simple; he had activated her curse mark. Through it he caused her pain, pain that she had no idea how to deal with. He knew that, from how she had reacted to the aftermath of the battle with Fury.

"Some say, it is better to give than it is to receive." He mused. "I say, it is better to _take_ than to receive... but you probably get the best of both worlds with your charms. You take what you want by enticing them into the chase. You give a lure, and take whatever you want... though I cannot imagine Loor let you be so rambunctious with your powers." He held a devilish smile. "I, too, will not allow you to be so spoiled."

She snarled, pain pulsing at her shoulder. This was something else Loor had not explained in full detail. She said that the curse mark was a leash, something of a control. She did not say that it caused her pain when Orochimaru choose to use it. At once, she pushed to resist it, turning and throwing herself at him.

He didn't bother to dodge her, instead catching her hands. Her claws had been extended for him, her dangerous and delicate fingers curved slightly and ready to rend. In catching her charge, he could feel she was holding back. This was Loor's strength, Loor's muscles, with none of Lyra's massive chakra added on.

Her brow was furrowed, sweat shining on her near-white skin.

Then, she flashed her fangs in a toothy grin.

He twitched, too proud to cry out, when he felt a sudden jolt of pain himself. In his time he had experienced greater things, but it was pure surprise that effected him most.

"Too easy...!" She bellowed, ducking and throwing him over herself. He was able to right himself in the air, landing on his feet, but he still didn't understand what she had done. She didn't seem to be in any pain anymore, and instead he was feeling continuously more vicious stabs within his own person.

He couldn't help gritting his teeth. "How? What are you doing?"

"Can't you figure it out?" She purred, though she seemed to become more exhausted by the moment. Her whole lithe body was tense. "The curse mark... it acts like a second source of chakra, or a third source in the case of this body. It's dark and twisted, like the intentions behind it... and it mingles quite well with my own. I was able to take your probe... your attempt to control me, and push the pain right back at you through the similarities in the chakra. If you want me to stop hurting you, break the connection!"

At first he relented, trying to force the pain back to her, but she had Loor's chakra to feed off of as well as her own supply. He would have to completely expend himself if he wanted to push her back.

At the moment, it wasn't worth it. With a last gasp of pain, he discontinued the technique. They stared each other down for several moments, he eventually shaking his head. "Reinforcing the status quo?"

"You will not control me." She stated rebelliously. "I made that clear when I first emerged. It's somewhat flattering that you want to, knowing your taste for power and potential, but I think I made made my point."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Though you may know little about demons, you will find now that Loor and I share particular mannerisms. One is the leader instinct." She turned, to walk back to the compound. "We will never follow. I offered to serve you of my own free will, not your command."

Orochimaru watched as she walked off.

This was a strange situation. A being he could not dominate. Last time that happened, he had left to chase his ambitions on his own. But this was someone in his service, not a comrade. He couldn't just pick everything up and go somewhere else.

This was going to become most interesting.

---------------------**Author's Corner**---------------------

UGH. I hate editing. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now but I've spent the last hour looking for little mistakes. .

Oh well. It must be done.

**I OWN NOTHING!!!**

-Loor


	47. The Plan

**Markings- Punishment  
****Chapter Forty Seven- The Plan**

"So she does stem from Shukaku?"

"She herself said that Shukaku was somehow involved... though she insisted she hasn't a clue to her own existence."

"Orochimaru-sama, you realize she could be lying? It was a talent I noted in Loor; perhaps Lyra has it as well."

Orochimaru was pacing his quarters, Kabuto present and standing attentively. There were a few questions on the table at the moment, one of which being Lyra's origins. Following that was any possible way of reining Lyra in, or using her presence at the moment to an advantage. Any advantage.

"That is what's most strange about it..." He ran his long fingers through his hair, seeming most annoyed by the issues at hand. "The sand cements she is somehow related to Shukaku. If she were simply an off-shoot of his power, one would expect her to be exactly like him... just smaller. Lesser in power. Instead, most of her personality is much like Loor if you removed the constrictions of logical thought, fears, anxieties, and otherwise."

"Apologies for saying so, but you mean she acts just like you?"

"Not quite, Kabuto. She holds Loor's ability for cracking personalities wide open. I have never had such abilities, nor would I care for them. As you said, she also likely has Loor's gift for deception. I would be smarter to leave her in your care, where you might see through some of her acts."

"We are getting off course." Kabuto sighed. "I do have some information to bring to the table. When I questioned Fury about any possible weaknesses the creature might have, I found that Loor wrote about Lyra years ago in old stories. Fury took little interest, but this was before anyone from this world had contact with the girls, and thus before Loor was in contact with Shukaku. It would seem that Lyra used to be... a figment of her imagination. Perhaps close to a second personality, or at least a make-believe friend."

"Is Fury aware of Lyra's current activity now?"

"Yes. She saw through to her when the two were together in the recovery area."

"Hm... continue to question Fury, and try to keep the two apart. Lyra is too much like Loor for me to trust the two together. They make a great team, as far as reports from Konoha go."

"Understood. I find it strange... when I knew Loor, she appeared quite lucid. To think she could have possibly been hiding a split psyche is most... interesting."

"Our last extensive contact with her was before Tsunade became Hokage... this... Lyra creature may have come into full life at any time past that. Before that, she was nothing but a figment. She told me she was no more than two years into life; the time line fits... but enough on that. Do you have any other news for me?"

"Yes, actually." Kabuto glanced down, frowning. "The Kazekage is on the move to Konoha. Reports have him traveling nearly alone; with his siblings. Also, one of our watchers in Konoha has reported a general movement of shinobi trying to persuade the Hokage into organizing a search and rescue into our territory."

Orochimaru finally stopped pacing, dropping to his bed and hissing as his hair cascaded about his face. "By the gods themselves... I could kill top level agents and hear nothing of it, but capture two chunnin girls and Suna and Konoha are ready to declare war on the country."

"Loor and Fury did make a lot of friends in the right places..."

"_Friends?" _The master hissed. "Much longer and Loor was going to find herself wed to the Kazekage himself. I did expect some sort of search effort sent our way, but if both villages mobilize against us they might just find us... we'll have to scatter the forces to safe houses and cover up the base at this rate."

He looked up at Kabuto, as if expecting an alternative.

Kabuto, bless his lucky stars, had one. "Actually..." he cleared his throat. "We still have their headbands."

"Their..." Orochimaru came to grin once more. "Their headbands. Why yes we do. We send their headbands home, it stands for their graves. Shinobi custom. Tsunade won't organize a mission to chase down ghosts, no matter how many of her people cry out for it. And the Kazekage... why, he'll be overcome with grief for his beloved."

Kabuto moved to bow out. "I'll send them at once!"

His master nodded, with one last thing to add. "Sign my name, would you? It's been so long since I've given Tsunade my regards."

* * *

"Ah, there you are, Sasuke."

Sasuke had sat up rather quickly when the door to his quarters opened unexpectedly. Of course he was tensed to defend himself, but at the voice that came through the dimly lit portal into his room, he knew to relax slightly.

Very slightly.

"Loor, what the hell do you want?"

"Such a short temper. You wonder what had Sakura so entranced with you back in Konoha. No matter." He heard her entering the room, shutting the door but not bothering with any source of light. He had a few candles, but the matches were by the door, in her reach, not his. "I had something I wished to speak to you about."

"Well do it quickly before I lose patience."

"And do what? Stab me with the katana you keep under your pillow? I can see the handle."

He didn't question how in the world she could see his weapon tucked away close at hand in the inky black of the room. Loor had displayed many strange qualities since her near execution. Perhaps her mind had finally melted down.

"My, my, I keep getting distracted. Anyway, I was wondering if you would be willing to assist me, for old time's sake."

"Assist you with what?"

"Getting the hell out of here. I realize that you came of your own free will, holy powers only knowing why, but I did not, nor did Fury. In future months, I do have a plan to escape... and though it will not be impossible on my own, success will be improbable without proper help in all the right areas."

"What do you want me to do, kill Orochimaru for you? That won't stop the rest of the _army_ that lives in these walls."

"You expect me to lop the head of this operation and run? No, no, that would be far too noisy. I wish to escape quietly. Ask for Orochimaru-kun, I will handle him on my own. What I need you to do has to do with the outside defenses of this place... I know there has to be guards out there. I need to know where they are, how they're arranged, power levels and such. It would be better if you could provide some kind of distraction, but I doubt you'd be willing to stick your neck out that far for me."

"How do you plan to take care of Orochimaru?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She giggled in the darkness. He felt her weight on his bedroll, as she crawled over him. This was very strange behavior for Loor, and at once made him quite uncomfortable.

"What... are you... doing?" He asked slowly.

"Mmm... excuse my impoliteness earlier. I can see exactly why Sakura likes you so much."

With no reaction in mind, he simply probed the darkness with his eyes in hopes of somehow gaining the incredible sight she must have possessed in the black of the room. He had no idea how to respond to the random succession of thoughts that seemed to pass her brain.

"Oh, distracted again." She laughed, and he felt her weight backing off to the end of his bedroll, by his feet. "But I still leave the ball in your court, as it were. Are you going to help me or not?"

"I think you're crazy... but sure. Just as long as you promise me one thing."

"Hm?"

"If we get caught, I get to slice your head off."

"Deal, Sasuke-kun."

He felt a kiss at his cheek, and then the door opened and closed. At once he leapt from bed to light a candle, not able to sleep until he made sure he was alone.

* * *

Lyra could not stand to remain inside for long. Not with the full moon calling to the very essence of her being. After a brief trip inside to speak with Sasuke she felt the undeniable need to return to the open air.

She knew that if she did not, she would be doomed to a rage that would be rather like Shukaku. In madness, she would lose the nature she was created with and take on the one that brought her to life.

She would seek the instant gratification of murder.

She could take her pleasures with those around her, make entertainment for herself out of teasing and pleasing those around her, but she would not compound Loor's psyche by putting blood on her hands. She had no idea if Loor would remember any of this time, and Lyra had only taken control to keep Loor alive and her mind intact.

Regardless to her time as a shinobi, Loor was yet to kill. If the girl recalled anything of this time, Lyra would make sure it was not blood.

Once outside, she took to figuring out the body she lived in. It had been proven before that she hadn't a clue to Loor's physical limitations. She didn't know pain, nor did she know the limits of muscles and fatigue.

But she needed to learn. The sooner she could accept missions from Orochimaru, the sooner she could earn his trust.

And with it, the sooner she could escape. She had been hoping to seduce him without his trusting her, but she had guessed it wouldn't be that easy. If he was brought down by a girl batting her eyes pretty, he wouldn't have made it this far. No, a man with his own village and his own army was someone with a constitution to only get sweaty over a girl when he was sure she was no longer a threat.

Or, such a threat that she was simply irresistible. That was how it had gone with Loor and Neji. She had been made so attractive to him by the fact that she wouldn't back down, and Lyra hoped to take the same path here.

She hoped to prove herself worth the 'master's' time. Once she had the right to take missions, she would overachieve her heart out, and toy with Orochimaru-kun on the side. That would be the easy part.

The rest landed on Fury, and her new and growing knowledge of poisons. Once the girl had the recipe for something useful, something to put Orochimaru out of commission for a little while, they would make their escape. Something done quickly, quietly. Rishu would clear their way to the door, Sasuke would at least give her an idea of which way to go to avoid the guards outside, and from there it would be a flat run home.

Planning was not something within Lyra's nature, but for her first try at such a thing, she thought it was pretty good.

_Alive and unharmed._ That was her mantra. Not that Loor would mind if she was a little beaten up. That mantra was for Fury. If Fury was hurt, Lyra and Loor would never live in peace again.

Lyra decided she would find her first limitation tonight. She would run until she could no longer. She would find Loor's muscular limit, understand what it felt like when she was reaching it. What were the signs of fatigue? What pain was brought with it? How did it feel when she did something this body was not meant to do? She would learn these things, and quickly.

The moon stood high in the sky for now, but Lyra knew time was wasting.

There was only so long that she could maintain control over Loor. Even now the girl realized that her willingness to give up her life had been a mistake, and she had tried to wake up. Lyra had managed to sooth her out of it, but it would be impossible to keep her under forever.

When Loor made a true grab for life, to come back to the surface, Lyra would not be able to stop her.

And Loor would rather die again before she went through with Lyra's plan on the fine detailing.

There was only one way to render a man defenseless, and Lyra knew it well.

If she was to place any poison into Orochimaru's system, it would have to be in the most distracted troughs of lovemaking. Loor would never be able to go through with that.

At least, Lyra didn't think so. As the embodiment of Loor's emotions, she was pretty sure the girl would never be able to swallow her pride and disgust long enough to do something like that.

Lyra, on the other hand, didn't care. This was all quite fun for her, and she actually found Orochimaru's manner most attractive and interesting. He was half a demon himself, and she couldn't be bothered by his vicious intentions.

It reminded her of Shukaku in some ways, which further invoked the lust she felt for every creature she ran past. Being what she was, she was ready to gain pleasure and toy with anyone, male or female.

So she felt some joy in her mission. She would bring her host, and her sister, home safely and have some fun along the way.

A win-win situation, in her mind.

---------------------**Author's Corner**---------------------

As some of you might have noticed, the chapters are getting a tad shorter. This is because when I stress over length I can't seem to get anything done, so I'm just writing according to what I feel is the right content and forgetting about length for the most part. I hope that's alright with everyone.

**I don't own Naruto.**

See you next time.

-Loor


End file.
